Thomas defends his luxury private trips taken with billionaire
Justice Clarence Thomas, in his annual financial disclosure form released Thursday, responded in detail to reports that he had failed to disclose luxury trips, flights on a private jet and a real estate transaction with a Texas billionaire.
In an unusual move, the justice included a statement defending his travel with the billionaire, Harlan Crow, who has donated to conservative causes, and amended earlier forms that had “inadvertently omitted” information. Although Thomas reported three trips taken over the past year on Crow's private jet, the first time in nearly two decades that he has disclosed such gifts and travel, the form did not appear to be comprehensive.
The acknowledgment comes as the Supreme Court faces increased scrutiny about the justices' financial dealings after a series of reports have underlined what few disclosure requirements are in place and how compliance is often left to the justices themselves. Lawmakers have renewed their calls for a stricter ethics code after revelations that Thomas and Justice Samuel Alito had accompanied billionaires on lavish vacations but did not report the trips. Although the justices, like other federal judges, are required to file annual reports that document their investments, gifts and travel, they are not subject to binding ethics rules.
The justices file the financial forms each spring, and most were released in early June. But Thomas and Alito requested 90-day extensions, and both their forms were released Thursday.
In his disclosure, Thomas addressed his decision to fly on Crow's private jet on one occasion, suggesting that he had been advised to avoid commercial travel after the leak of the draft opinion eliminating a constitutional right to an abortion.
“Because of the increased security risk following the Dobbs opinion leak, the May flights were by private plane for official travel as filer's security detail recommended noncommercial travel whenever possible,” Thomas wrote.
A court spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether the justices have been encouraged to fly on private jets after the leak of the draft decision. Thomas first reported private jet travel in the 1990s, and even as those disclosures dropped off by the mid-2000s, he has continued such travel over decades.
The nature of Thomas' decades-long relationship with Crow in particular has elicited questions after ProPublica described the extent of his generosity and the justice's failure to disclose it. Crow treated the justice to a series of lavish trips, including flights on his private jet, island-hopping on his yacht and vacations at his estate in the Adirondacks. Crow also bought the justice's mother's home in Savannah, Georgia, and covered a portion of private school tuition for the justice's great-nephew, whom he was raising.