Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has reported accepting multiple trips arranged by Republican megadonor Harlan Crow on a financial disclosure form for the first time.
Thomas vigorously denies any wrongdoing.
The disclosure form was made public on Thursday, revealing that the Supreme Court justice traveled as Crow's guest to the Adirondacks and Dallas. Thomas stated that he used Crow's private jet for multiple trips due to security concerns after the draft Dobbs opinion was leaked.
The filing follows investigating reports that Thomas received undisclosed gifts from multiple billionaires for years.
The Supreme Court has no binding ethics code. Justices must submit annual disclosure forms detailing gifts with exceptions carved out for family and friends under the so-called “personal hospitality loophole.”
Multiple House Democrats, led by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, claim Thomas received gifts “in defiance of his duty under federal law.” Pointing to a statute requiring federal judges to disclose gifts, including travel valued at over $1,000, Ocasio-Cortez wrote, “No individual, regardless of their position or stature, should be exempt from legal scrutiny for lawbreaking.”
Judiciary Committee ranking member Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), Oversight Committee ranking member Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), House Democratic Caucus Vice Chair Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) and Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) signed the New York congresswoman's letter asking the Justice Department to investigate Thomas.
In a public statement, Thomas defended his character, stating he and his wife became friends with the Crows decades ago and “as friends do, we have joined them on a number of family trips.”
Attorney Elliot Berke, who helped prepare Thomas' disclosure form, added, “He has never accepted a gift from anyone with business before the Court. For anyone who knows him at all, it is clear that no one influences Justice Clarence Thomas's jurisprudence. But friends are dear, close, and separate.”
The Hill continues:
His new financial disclosure form also includes supplemental information about a 2014 real estate transaction with Crow, which Thomas's attorney said Thursday was “inadvertently omitted” from past reports.
In 2014, Crow bought three properties from Thomas and his family in Savannah, Ga., transactions that raised the ire of congressional Democrats when they were first publicized in news reports by ProPublica this year.
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Thomas previously said he was advised that the trips he accepted from Crow fell under a personal hospitality exception and did not need to be reported.
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