Justice Clarence Thomas has officially disclosed that billionaire Republican donor Harlan Crow paid for two trips he went on in 2019, information that was “inadvertently omitted” on earlier forms, according to his financial disclosure report.
The trips have stirred controversy and criticism regarding the lavish gifts Supreme Court justices receive, especially after ProPublica revealed the unreported trip was one of the many yearly vacations Thomas accepted from Crow without disclosure. Following the article’s release, there was an increase in inquiries and calls for ethics reform on the Court, and this is the first time Thomas has acknowledged these trips in his reports.
In his 2023 report released on Friday, Justice Thomas noted that he “sought and received guidance from his accountant and ethics counsel” before adding the two entries as amendments to the 2019 report. The first entry mentions Harlan and Kathy Crow as the source of a trip to Bali, Indonesia, on July 12, 2019, where they covered the cost of food and lodging at a hotel. The second entry lists Harlan Crow as the source of a trip to a private club in Monte Rio, California, from July 18 to 21, 2019, where he also paid for Thomas’ food and lodging.
These annual disclosure reports, mandated by law, aim to provide insight into the external income, travel, and gifts that the president-appointed Supreme Court justices receive. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson’s report, also released on Friday, revealed that she received concert tickets valued at $3,700 from Beyoncé, while multiple justices reported significant sums in advances and royalties from their books, including Jackson, Kavanaugh, Gorsuch, and Sotomayor.
However, according to the ProPublica investigation and a report from a watchdog group on Thursday, these reports do not always offer the complete picture.
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Following the ProPublica report, Thomas had asserted that he was not obligated to report the trips under the ethics rules at the time. The Supreme Court implemented a new code of conduct last year, though many argue that there is no enforcement behind it, as these were considered “personal hospitality.” Moreover, a report from Fix the Court on Thursday stated that justices over the past two decades received nearly $4.8 million in gifts, with Thomas accounting for over $4 million of that total.
The report includes more than 100 gifts that the watchdog believes Thomas has likely received over the years, mainly consisting of additional free trips and stays that were not disclosed. Taking this into account, Fix the Court estimates that the actual total of gifts is closer to $6.6 million, with Thomas responsible for nearly $5.9 million of that amount.
Gabe Roth from Fix the Court stated, “Supreme Court justices should not be accepting gifts, particularly the hundreds of freebies worth millions of dollars they have received. Public servants who earn four times the median local salary and can generate millions from writing books on any subject can afford to pay for their own expenses, including vacations, vehicles, hunting trips, and club memberships. The ethical crisis at the Court will not improve until justices adopt stricter rules regarding gift acceptance.”
Last year, Justice Thomas requested and received an extension for filing his disclosure forms, as did Justice Samuel Alito, who also obtained an extension this year.
Meanwhile, despite the Democratic-led Senate Judiciary Committee authorizing subpoenas in November, Democrats have not yet issued subpoenas to Harlan Crow and Leonard Leo, a conservative legal activist also involved in the Supreme Court ethics inquiries, as reported by ProPublica.
