Supreme Court’s Thomas Says He Heeded Gift Disclosure Rules (2)

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas defended himself against allegations that he may have violated the law by not reporting vacations paid for by a billionaire Republican donor, saying he’d been told he didn’t have to report the trips.

In a one-paragraph statement Friday, Thomas said he’d sought guidance from colleagues and others in the judiciary early in his tenure as a Supreme Court justice. He said he was “advised that this sort of personal hospitality from close personal friends, who did not have business before the court, was not reportable.”

“I have endeavored to follow that counsel throughout my tenure,” ...