What in the lit lifestyle, is going on here?
In a scathing report called “Clarence Thomas and the Billionaire” Propublica is accusing judge Clarence Thomas of a lavish lifestyle that are, according to them ‘nowhere on Thomas’ financial disclosures’.
For more than two decades, Thomas has accepted luxury trips virtually every year from the Dallas businessman without disclosing them, documents and interviews show. A public servant who has a salary of $285,000, he has vacationed on Crow’s superyacht around the globe. He flies on Crow’s Bombardier Global 5000 jet. He has gone with Crow to the Bohemian Grove, the exclusive California all-male retreat, and to Crow’s sprawling ranch in East Texas. And Thomas typically spends about a week every summer at Crow’s private resort in the Adirondacks.
The extent and frequency of Crow’s apparent gifts to Thomas have no known precedent in the modern history of the U.S. Supreme Court.
These trips appeared nowhere on Thomas’ financial disclosures. His failure to report the flights appears to violate a law passed after Watergate that requires justices, judges, members of Congress and federal officials to disclose most gifts, two ethics law experts said. He also should have disclosed his trips on the yacht, these experts said.
They go on to report:
Thomas did not respond to a detailed list of questions.
In a statement, Crow acknowledged that he’d extended “hospitality” to the Thomases “over the years,” but said that Thomas never asked for any of it and it was “no different from the hospitality we have extended to our many other dear friends.”
Through his largesse, Crow has gained a unique form of access, spending days in private with one of the most powerful people in the country. By accepting the trips, Thomas has broken long-standing norms for judges’ conduct, ethics experts and four current or retired federal judges said.
“It’s incomprehensible to me that someone would do this,” said Nancy Gertner, a retired federal judge appointed by President Bill Clinton. When she was on the bench, Gertner said, she was so cautious about appearances that she wouldn’t mention her title when making dinner reservations: “It was a question of not wanting to use the office for anything other than what it was intended.”
Virginia Canter, a former government ethics lawyer who served in administrations of both parties, said Thomas “seems to have completely disregarded his higher ethical obligations.”
“When a justice’s lifestyle is being subsidized by the rich and famous, it absolutely corrodes public trust,” said Canter, now at the watchdog group CREW. “Quite frankly, it makes my heart sink.”
Judge Mathis weighed in:
NEW: Clarence Thomas secretly accepted lavish luxury travel for decades from a billionaire businessman/GOP donor, in apparent repeat violation of ethics law.
Fmr judge: “It’s incomprehensible to me that someone would do this."https://t.co/JlHQQzTGkm w/@js_kaplan @Amierjeski pic.twitter.com/yeoZsCObwY
— Justin Elliott (@JustinElliott) April 6, 2023
and
If only we had been given some idea that Clarence Thomas wasn’t fit to serve on the Supreme Court. pic.twitter.com/TPa9JCOFwT
— JudgeYouHarshly ? ?? (@JudgeYouHarshly) April 6, 2023
and
A detail from our story today: Ted Cruz tweeted this photo of Clarence Thomas swearing in 5th Circuit Judge James Ho. Turns out this is in billionaire Harlan Crow's private library, and flight records show Crow's jet dispatched to DC and back to Dallas before + after this event https://t.co/IwNjkwRsS6
— Justin Elliott (@JustinElliott) April 6, 2023
and
Another HIGH TECH LYNCHING of Justice Clarence Thomas. They're Busting his Chops because he went FISHING with his friend at some Lake? WHO CARES! Hunter Biden can get a BILLION dollars from China but The judge can't go Fishing in the woods? FAKE NEWS! I Support Justice THOMAS! pic.twitter.com/nCoxfPRzLx
— Greg Kelly (@gregkellyusa) April 6, 2023
Read the entire report here.
