Justice Thomas didn’t reveal jet trips

Recently, there have been new revelations from Capitol Hill concerning Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and three trips he took on a billionaire’s private jet.

Documents obtained by the Senate Judiciary Committee reveal that Thomas did not disclose the trips he took to Montana, California, and Georgia, all of which were on a plane provided by Texas businessman and Republican donor Harlan Crow. Just last week, Thomas officially disclosed that Crow had paid for two other trips the justice took in 2019, information that was inadvertently omitted from earlier reports.

The trips have sparked controversy and criticism about the extravagant gifts received by Supreme Court justices, especially after ProPublica uncovered yearly vacations that Thomas accepted from Crow, also undisclosed. These annual disclosure reports, released last week as required by law, provide insight into the outside income, travel, and gifts received by the president-appointed Supreme Court justices. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson’s report reveals she received concert tickets worth $3,700 from Beyoncé, while multiple justices, including Jackson, Brett Kavanaugh, Neil Gorsuch, and Sonia Sotomayor, reported significant advances and royalties for their books.

Following the ProPublica report, Thomas stated that he was not obligated to report the trips under the ethics rules at the time as they were considered “personal hospitality.” Another report from Fix the Court revealed that over the past two decades, justices have received nearly $4.8 million in gifts, with Thomas alone receiving over $4 million of that amount.

The Supreme Court implemented a new code of conduct last year, but many critics argue that it lacks enforcement mechanisms.