US Supreme Court Justice
Between 2017 and 2021, Thomas flew three more times than previously disclosed on the private jet of the Texas real estate billionaire, according to a report released Thursday by the
Supreme Court justices have been under increasing scrutiny following ProPublica reports last year that Thomas accepted extensive gifts from Crow, a Republican donor who supports conservative business causes. Thomas has said he didn’t discuss Supreme Court business with his friends and believed he didn’t have to disclose the trips.
The document released Thursday found Thomas flew on Crow’s jet from Washington, DC, to San Jose, California, in 2021; between Washington, DC, and Savannah, Georgia, in 2019; and from St. Louis to Kalispell, Montana, and Dallas in 2017. The senators obtained the information after subpoenaing Crow for data on his trips with Thomas.
The trips reported by Crow fell under the “personal hospitality exemption” and weren’t required to be disclosed by Thomas, according to his lawyer, Elliot Berke, who said the justice has complied with a new disclosure provision put in place last year.
“As Justice Thomas has already explained, he and many other federal judges were advised that they were not required to report gifts of personal hospitality from friends who did not have business before the court,” Berke said in a statement.
Michael Zona, a spokesman for Crow, said the businessman had reached an agreement with the Senate committee to provide information going back seven years.
“Despite his serious and continued concerns about the legality and necessity of the inquiry, Mr. Crow engaged in good faith negotiations with the committee from the beginning to resolve the matter,” Zona said in a statement. “As a condition of this agreement, the committee agreed to end its probe with respect to Mr. Crow.”
Mark Paoletta, a close Thomas ally, called the report a “snoozer.” “Justice Thomas was not required to disclose these trips under personal hospitality provision,” Paoletta said.
An analysis released last week by the watchdog group Fix the Court concluded that Thomas has received more than $4 million in gifts since his 1991 confirmation. The group’s calculations included rough estimates of the value of flights aboard private planes.
“Nearly $4.2 million in gifts and even that wasn’t enough for Justice Thomas, with at least three additional trips the committee found that he has failed to disclose to date,” said Senator
The panel’s review of Supreme Court ethics “is producing new information” that “makes it crystal clear that the highest court needs an enforceable code of conduct, because its members continue to choose not to meet the moment,” Durbin said in a statement.
On Wednesday night, Durbin’s attempt to pass legislation to create an code of ethics for the court was blocked by Republicans on the Senate floor.
The Senate documents didn’t provide details of what Thomas was doing on his trips, including who he was visiting, where he was staying or the financial value. Thomas grew up in Savannah and previously owned property in the area.
Thomas and his relatives
(Updates with comment by attorney for Thomas.)
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Elizabeth Wasserman
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