Supreme Court Judge Clarence Thomas has ruled in his favor, allowing him to use luxury jets, a mega-yacht and impressive retreats, all owned by the same real estate mogul.
The powerful judge, who has found new influence on the conservative 6-3 court, has accepted ‘hospitality’ from real estate billionaire Harlan Crow for 20 years, enjoying lavish vacations and transportation he couldn’t afford on his $285,000 a year salary. .
This includes touring the Pacific waters of Indonesia on a 162-foot, multi-deck-equipped superyacht coming with a crew and private chef in 2019, according to an explosive new report from the ProPublica Non-profit journalism.
Thomas and his wife Ginny didn’t have to worry about commercial flights for the nine-day trip, which included traveling aboard a private jet, a Bombardier Global 5000. That brought the cost of the expedition to $500,000, if the judge were willing. he paid for himself, according to the nonprofit’s analysis.
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has taken weekly vacations with real estate mogul Harlan Crow, including an adventure to Indonesia aboard a mega-yacht and private jet.
The jet’s 16 seats and its “advanced wing design give you a quiet flight and a smooth ride,” according to promotional materials.
Thomas has been a regular guest at the Crow’s Adirondacks resort, Camp Topridge, which was once owned by the state of New York for the governor’s use but was sold due to high maintenance costs. He usually goes for a week each summer, according to the report. The retreat was built by grain heiress Marjorie Merriweather Post.
It’s all part of a long-term friendship that began after Thomas joined the high court following his controversial confirmation following President George HW Bush’s nomination.
Keeping with the outdoors theme, Thomas has also traveled with Crow to the exclusive retreat at Bohemian Grove in Sonoma, California, where presidents like Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon have gone.
Thomas has not disclosed the trips. The Supreme Court, unlike other federal courts, does not hold its members to an official Code of Conduct, although Chief Justice John Roberts has urged justices to refer to it for guidance.
Crow called Thomas a dear friend and met him after he joined the Supreme Court. Crow is a Dallas-based real estate mogul
Thomas makes annual trips to Topridge, the Crow’s Adirondacks estate
The retreat offers opportunities for boating and fishing, and features exotic furnishings.
Thomas and his wife Ginni traveled aboard a Bombardier Global 5000 private jet. The trips were not disclosed and need not be under guidelines the Supreme Court sets for itself.
Sens. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) reintroduced legislation last month to subject the high court to a code of ethics.
Some ethics experts told ProPublica that Thomas should have disclosed the jet and yacht trips as gifts, although visits to Crow properties might be less of a problem.
“If Judge Thomas received free travel on private planes and yachts, not reporting the gifts is a violation of the disclosure law,” said Kedric Payne of the Campaign Legal Center.
The gift rules for members of Congress provide exceptions for those based on personal friendship, though lawmakers routinely list the acceptance of private jet travel on their own financial disclosure forms.
The report puts Thomas back in the news for matters unrelated to his failures on the bench. That comes after his wife, Ginny, agreed to voluntarily testify before the House Jan. 6 Committee about her involvement with other Trump allies in the effort to overturn the election.
Crow issued a lengthy statement in response to the new revelations about the extension of his trip with Thomas.
“My wife Kathy and I have been friends with Judge Thomas and his wife Ginni since 1996. We are very dear friends,” he said.
“The hospitality we have extended to the Thomases over the years is no different than the hospitality we have extended to our many other dear friends,” he said.
Judge Thomas and Ginni never asked for any of this hospitality. We have never inquired about a case pending or in lower court, and Judge Thomas has never argued one, and we have never tried to influence Judge Thomas on any legal or political issue. More generally, I am not aware of any of our friends who have lobbied or sought to influence Judge Thomas in any case, and I would never invite anyone who I believe intended to do so,” he continued.
He called the trips ‘friend reunions’.
Thomas enjoys greater influence on the conservative 6-3 court, which has no code of conduct for judges.
He also referenced the “number of occasions” in which “we have made contributions to projects that celebrate the life and legacy of Judge Thomas, just as we have done with other great leaders and historically significant figures.”
That was a reference to his gift to Thomas of a bible owned by Frederick Douglass, valued at $19,000 at the time, and other gifts.
He New York Times reported in 2011 that Crow had paid to buy and restore the Georgia seafood cannery where Thomas’s father had once worked. He also gave Thomas a bust of Abraham Lincoln valued at $15,000 in 2001.
There is no indication that Crow had any business before the high court.
Crow has also donated to the Federalist Society, which provided former President Donald Trump with a list of judges to nominate for the Supreme Court on which he relied heavily. A painting in Topridge shows Crow and Thomas smoking cigars as part of a group that includes Federalist Society co-chairman Leonard Leo.
New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez pounced on the report, calling on Thomas be accusedretweeting a ProPublica journalist who said it “seems like he broke the law.”
‘This is beyond the party or partisanship. This degree of corruption is shocking, almost cartoonish. Thomas must be charged. Barring some dramatic change, this is what the Roberts court will be known for: blatant corruption, erosion of democracy, and stripping of human rights,” he wrote.
Wrote Senator Murphy: ‘There is a code of conduct that applies to all but 9 federal judges. It is no longer right that the Supreme Court is the only federal court without a binding code of ethics. For more than a decade, in every Congress I have introduced the Supreme Court Ethics Act.
‘This is outrageous. I don’t care if you agree with Thomas’s politics. Congress cannot allow judges to so blatantly flout conflict of interest rules,” he wrote.