PROOF: https://i.redd.it/2gp9849inita1.jpg
For decades Judge Clarence Thomas Secretly hosted luxury rides from a major Republican sponsorTexas billionaire Harlan Crow. These trips include flights in Crowe’s private jet and island hopping on his 162-foot superyacht Michaela Rose. These trips were not mentioned anywhere in Thomas’s financial statements, where the judges must list most of the gifts. The scale and frequency of these apparent gifts to Thomas are without precedent in modern SCOTUS history.
To track Thomas’s circumnavigation, Joshua Kaplan, Alex Mireski, and I used flight records, internal documents given to Crowe’s employees. We also interviewed dozens of people, from the crew of a superyacht to members of the secretive Bohemian Grove Club and an Indonesian scuba instructor.
Here photorealistic painting we found Thomas and Crow chatting with other conservative influencers at Crow’s private upstate New York resort, where the judge spends about a week each summer. Also featured in the painting is Leonard Leo, a longtime executive director of the Federalist Society who was a key architect of the federal judiciary’s move to the right. We also ended up this signed copy of Thomas’s memoirs which the judge presented to crew member Mikaela Rose as a gift for his service during the voyage around New Zealand.
Thomas did not initially respond to our detailed requests for comment, but subsequently issued a statement in defense of his decision not to disclose the details. “family trips.” “Early in my time on the Court, I sought the advice of my colleagues and other members of the judiciary and was informed that this kind of personal hospitality from close friends who had no case before the Court should not be reported.” Thomas said in a statement. “I have tried to follow this advice throughout my tenure and have always strived to comply with the disclosure rules.”
But the seven legal ethicists we spoke toincluding former ethics lawyers in Congress and the White House, said the law clearly requires gifts of transportation, including private jet flights, to be disclosed.
In a statement, Crowe acknowledged that he had provided “hospitality” to the Thomases “over the years”, but said that Thomas never asked for anything and that it was “nothing different from the hospitality we have given many other dear friends of ours.” Crowe said in a statement that he and his wife never discussed pending or lower court cases with Thomas, “We never sought to influence Judge Thomas on any legal or political issue,” he added.
our history provoked calls Congress and Chief Justice John Roberts to investigate Thomas’ travels and update SCOTUS ethics rules. Earlier this week, Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee announced plans to hold hearings in the coming days “regarding the need to restore confidence in the ethical standards of the Supreme Court,” citing our report.
Here are the stories that my colleagues and I have published: https://www.propublica.org/article/clarence-thomas-scotus-undisclosed-luxury-travel-gifts-crow – https://www.propublica.org/article/clarence-thomas-scotus-harlan-crow-durbin-ethics-investigation – https://www.propublica.org/article/clarence-thomas-response-trips-legal-experts-harlan-crow – https://www.propublica.org/article/clarence-thomas-scotus-john-roberts-investigation-crow
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