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Justice Clarence Thomas failed to disclose two undisclosed trips paid for by a billionaire Republican donor, a new congressional report reveals.
In the wake of ProPublica’s explosive 2023 report that Thomas failed to disclose his relationship with wealthy donor Harlan Crowe, Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee are calling the shots on Supreme Court ethics. A month-long investigation was conducted.
The report, which spans 97 pages and 824 pages of supporting documents, was released on Saturday and detailed two additional trips paid for by Crowe that Thomas had not previously disclosed. More broadly, the report also documented a series of conflicts of interest and undisclosed gifts by judges, leading the committee to recommend that the nation’s highest court establish an enforceable code of conduct. .
Neither 2021 trip has been previously announced.
In July, Crow flew Thomas by private jet from Omaha, Nebraska, to Saranac, New York, and welcomed him to Camp Topridge, Crow’s 105-acre estate in the Adirondacks. The second time was a few months later in October, when Crowe shuttled Thomas from Washington, D.C., to New Jersey and back for the statue’s dedication. Reports say the conservative judge was with the New York billionaire on his yacht.
These trips were revealed in a letter from Crowe to the commission.
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The additional trips are among a long list of other lavish gifts, accommodations and travel methods Thomas received from Crowe and others from 1992 to 2023, and others have previously made public.
“It is difficult to calculate the value of these gifts, especially since most of the luxury trips Judge Thomas has accepted over the past two decades remain undisclosed, but some estimates put their value at $4.75 million. exceed,” the report states.
In addition to Mr. Thomas, the report also detailed 258 trips taken by the late Justice Antonin Scalia without reporting them on financial disclosure “in violation of federal law.” The late conservative justice “established” a habit of receiving lavish gifts in private and took more subsidized travel than other justices, Democratic staffers said.
Justice Samuel Alito also failed to disclose that he went fishing in Alaska in 2008, according to the report. The trip was previously reported by ProPublica in 2023 and included round-trip flights on a private jet and an overnight stay, the committee said.
Before ProPublica published the story, Alito wrote an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal denying any wrongdoing.
The Judiciary Committee’s report lists “questionable conduct related to gifts and abuses of office” by Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Neil Gorsuch, as well as former Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, but the Prizes and gifts received have been at least partially disclosed, Alito said. , Thomas, and Scalia are in a different category.
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“Scrutiny of partial or complete gift travel by judges will allow them to adequately account for whether there are conflicts of interest or other forms of bias on the part of those entrusted with enormous power.” the Democratic staff member wrote. “This is why the gifts that Justices Alito, Scalia, and Thomas choose not to disclose are a clear problem. They hide this conduct and thereby expose potential conflicts of interest and bias from proper oversight. It’s hidden.”
The committee reiterated members’ demands for an enforceable ethics code.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin said, “Whether it was not disclosing lavish gifts or failing to get away with cases with clear conflicts of interest, the billionaires the justices fawned over It is clear that we are losing the trust of the American people at our hands.” said in a statement after the release of the report.
“The nation’s highest court cannot have the lowest ethical standards. As long as Chief Justice Roberts and the Judicial Conference refuse to act, we must push for a legislative solution to this crisis to restore confidence in the Supreme Court.” We must,” the Illinois Democrat continued.
In November 2023, a few months after the ProPublica investigation, the Supreme Court issued a code of conduct detailing the rules that judges must follow, but it is not clear how the code will be enforced or the consequences of violating it. is not mentioned.
