https://sputnikglobe.com/20230407/report-justice-clarence-thomas-failed-to-disclose-gifts-from-republican-mega-donor-1109227431.html
Report: Justice Clarence Thomas Failed to Disclose Gifts From Republican Mega-Donor
Report: Justice Clarence Thomas Failed to Disclose Gifts From Republican Mega-Donor
Sputnik International
Since his appointment in 1991, Clarence Thomas has consistently been the most Conservative voice in the Supreme Court.
2023-04-07T03:52+0000
2023-04-07T03:52+0000
2023-04-07T04:31+0000
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clarence thomas
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Justice Clarence Thomas has accepted gifts and went on vacation with a Republican mega-donor and failed to disclose them in his financial statements - potentially breaking the law, recent findings have revealed.According to an investigation by ProPublica, Thomas traveled with real-estate developer Harlan Crow on vacations that would have cost the justice six figures if he paid for the trips himself.The report highlights one trip to Indonesia in 2019, in which Thomas and his wife Ginni flew to the country on Crow’s jet and then spent nine days island-hopping on Crow’s 162-foot yacht. Had he chartered the plane and yacht himself, it would have cost him over $500,000.As a justice, Thomas has a salary of $285,000.Thomas has also traveled with Crow to Bohemian Grove, an exclusive all-male retreat in California, Crow’s sprawling ranch in East Texas, Savannah, Georgia, and New Zealand, and trips nearly every year to Crow’s exclusive resort in the Adirondack region of Upstate New York.Since their friendship began three decades ago - shortly after Thomas became a Supreme Court Justice - Crow gifted Thomas a $19,000 bible, which was disclosed. He also allegedly gifted the Justice a portrait of him and his wife, according to the painter who was commissioned to paint it, which has not been disclosed. Crow also donated to Yale Law School for the “Justice Thomas Portrait Fund,” according to tax documents reviewed by the outlet, and paid for a 7-foot tall, 1,800-pound statue honoring Thomas’ eighth-grade teacher.The stays at the Adirondack resort may also be a violation because Crow owns the property through a company. While earlier filing rules did not address the issue of corporate ownership of properties, a recent update clarified that such gifts should be reported.Crow said in a statement that he and his wife never discuss pending or lower court cases with Thomas, claiming they “have never sought to influence Justice Thomas on any legal or political issue.” Crow says the hospitality he extended to Thomas was the same he would extend to any of his “good friends.”One trip to the Adirondack resort was commemorated in a painting by the same artist who claims to have painted the portrait of Thomas and his wife. In it, Thomas can be seen smoking cigars with Crow, Federalist Society Co-chairman and lawyer Leonard Leo, and two other lawyers. Leo, who was an adviser to former President Donald Trump, used a network of non-profit organizations to spend millions advocating for a variety of conservative issues, including filing briefs for court cases involving civil and voting rights.In response to the report, US Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) called for Thomas’ impeachment.Kedric Payne, senior director for ethics at Campaign Legal Center, a nonprofit government watchdog group, said that if the gifts were not disclosed, Thomas likely broke disclosure laws. “If Justice Thomas received free travel on private planes and yachts, failure to report the gifts is a violation of the disclosure law,” he told the outlet.
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clarence thomas, gifts, bribes, ethics violations, disclosure laws, leonard leo, harlan crow
clarence thomas, gifts, bribes, ethics violations, disclosure laws, leonard leo, harlan crow
Report: Justice Clarence Thomas Failed to Disclose Gifts From Republican Mega-Donor
03:52 GMT 07.04.2023 (Updated: 04:31 GMT 07.04.2023) Since his appointment in 1991, Justice Clarence Thomas has consistently been the most conservative voice in the Supreme Court. He has advocated for the end of federal voting protections and abortion rights, and has criticized decisions that enshrined the right to birth control and gay marriage.
Justice Clarence Thomas has accepted gifts and went on vacation with a Republican mega-donor and failed to disclose them in his financial statements - potentially breaking the law, recent findings have revealed.
According to an investigation by ProPublica, Thomas traveled with real-estate developer Harlan Crow on vacations that would have cost the justice six figures if he paid for the trips himself. The report highlights one trip to Indonesia in 2019, in which Thomas and his wife Ginni flew to the country on Crow’s jet and then spent nine days island-hopping on Crow’s 162-foot yacht. Had he chartered the plane and yacht himself, it would have cost him over $500,000.
As a justice, Thomas has a salary of $285,000.
Thomas has also traveled with Crow to Bohemian Grove, an exclusive all-male retreat in California, Crow’s sprawling ranch in East Texas, Savannah, Georgia, and New Zealand, and trips nearly every year to Crow’s exclusive resort in the Adirondack region of Upstate New York.
Since their friendship began three decades ago - shortly after Thomas became a Supreme Court Justice - Crow gifted Thomas a $19,000 bible, which was disclosed. He also allegedly gifted the Justice a portrait of him and his wife, according to the painter who was commissioned to paint it, which has not been disclosed. Crow also donated to Yale Law School for the “Justice Thomas Portrait Fund,” according to tax documents reviewed by the outlet, and paid for a 7-foot tall, 1,800-pound statue honoring Thomas’ eighth-grade teacher.
The undisclosed gifts and trips seem to violate a law passed in the wake of Watergate which limited what kind of gifts justices, judges and lawmakers can receive and required them to disclose any gifts they accepted.
While lawmakers were severely restricted in what gifts they could accept, justices are largely allowed to accept most gifts, as long as anything valued over $415 is reported. There is an exception for food and lodging if the host owns the property, but travel is not included in the exception, making the private plane trips and possibly the yacht trips a violation of ethics laws.
The stays at the Adirondack resort may also be a violation because Crow owns the property through a company. While earlier filing rules did not address the issue of corporate ownership of properties, a recent update clarified that such gifts should be reported.
Crow said in a statement that he and his wife never discuss pending or lower court cases with Thomas, claiming they “have never sought to influence Justice Thomas on any legal or political issue.” Crow says the hospitality he extended to Thomas was the same he would extend to any of his “good friends.”
One trip to the Adirondack resort was commemorated in a painting by the same artist who claims to have painted the portrait of Thomas and his wife. In it, Thomas can be seen smoking cigars with Crow, Federalist Society Co-chairman and lawyer Leonard Leo, and two other lawyers. Leo, who was an adviser to former President Donald Trump, used a network of non-profit organizations to
spend millions advocating for a variety of conservative issues, including filing briefs for court cases involving civil and voting rights.
In response to the report, US Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) called for Thomas’ impeachment.
Kedric Payne, senior director for ethics at Campaign Legal Center, a nonprofit government watchdog group, said that if the gifts were not disclosed, Thomas likely broke disclosure laws. “If Justice Thomas received free travel on private planes and yachts, failure to report the gifts is a violation of the disclosure law,” he told the outlet.
