Living Large: Why US Supreme Court judge Clarence Thomas is taking heat over luxury vacations

US Supreme Court judge Clarence Thomas is taking heat over luxury vacations. The non-profit group ProPublica reported that Thomas, the Black Supreme Court justice appointed in 1991, has spent the past two decades taking vacations on the dime of a Republican billionaire donor – without reporting them. Let’s take a closer look: The controversy ProPublica reported that Thomas had not reported the yearly luxury trips funded by megadonor Harlan Crow on his financial disclosure forms. “The extent and frequency of Crow’s apparent gifts to Thomas have no known precedent in the modern history of the US Supreme Court,” ProPublica wrote. The outfit said Thomas spent time on Crow’s yacht, was a guest at his resort in the Adirondacks Mountains and used his private jet.

Thomas also took a trip to Indonesia in 2019 – which would have cost the justice more than $500,000.

ProPublica’s story says that Thomas has been vacationing at Crow’s lavish Topridge resort virtually every summer for more than two decades. The New York Times has described the friendship between the 74-year-old Thomas and Crow as “unusual and ethically sensitive”. During one trip in 2017, other guests included executives at “Verizon and PricewaterhouseCoopers, major Republican donors and one of the leaders of the American Enterprise Institute, a pro-business conservative think tank,” ProPublica reported. The disclosure of the lavish trips stands in contrast to what Thomas has said about his preferred methods of travel. Thomas, who grew up poor in Georgia, has talked about enjoying traveling in his motorcoach and preferring “Walmart parking lots to the beaches.” Is it illegal? No. According to The New York Times, while Thomas has not broken any laws by taking such trips, justices must under the Ethics in Government Act, 1978, on their annual disclosure form list gifts that cost in excess of $415 to avoid the ‘appearance of impropriety’. As noted, the plane trip would have cost Thomas in excess of $500,000. [caption id=“attachment_10834481” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] The US Supreme Court justices must list gifts received . AFP[/caption] However, Supreme Court justices, like other federal judges, are required to file an annual financial disclosure report which asks them to list gifts they have received. It was not clear why Thomas omitted the trips, but under a judiciary policy guide consulted by The Associated Press, food, lodging or entertainment received as “personal hospitality of any individual” does not need to be reported if it is at the personal residence of that individual or their family. That said, the exception to reporting is not supposed to cover “transportation that substitutes for commercial transportation” and properties owned by an entity. Thomas and Crow respond to row Thomas has since released a statement saying he was advised by colleagues that such trips need not be reported.

Justice Clarence Thomas responds to ProPublica's story in a statement, saying he "was advised" that the trips did not have to be disclosed pic.twitter.com/gzgGU8if2M

— Zach Schonfeld (@ZachASchonfeld) April 7, 2023

Thomas has also vowed to follow the recently changed guidelines in the future. The federal judiciary in March beefed up disclosure requirements for all judges, including the high court justices, although overnight stays at personal vacation homes owned by friends remain exempt from disclosure. Crow wrote that he is “unaware of any of our friends ever lobbying or seeking to influence Justice Thomas on any case, and I would never invite anyone who I believe had any intention of doing that.” In a statement, Crow told ProPublica that he and his wife have been friends of Thomas and his wife since 1996, five years after Thomas joined the high court. Crow said that the “hospitality we have extended to the Thomas’s over the years is no different from the hospitality we have extended to our many other dear friends” and that the couple “never asked for any of this hospitality.” He said they have “never asked about a pending or lower court case, and Justice Thomas has never discussed one, and we have never sought to influence Justice Thomas on any legal or political issue.” Crow has made more than $10 million in donations to Republican political groups, ProPublica said, including half a million dollars to a conservative lobbying group founded by Thomas’ wife Ginni. This isn’t the first time questions have been raised with regard to Thomas’ behaviour. Thomas in 2020 did not recuse himself from the cases dealing with the 2020 election despite the revelation that his wife and conservative activist Virginia ‘Ginni’ Thomas urged lawmakers and the Trump White House to contest the election results. The Los Angeles Times in 2004 reported that Thomas had received gifts including a Bible previously owned by Frederick Douglass and a bust of Abraham Lincoln from Crow.

The two gifts were valued at $34,000.

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“I just knew he was a fan of Frederick Douglass, and I saw that item come available at an auction and I bought it for him,” Crow told the newspaper at the time. The newspaper noted that Thomas refused to comment on that story. Thomas in 1991 was confirmed despite being accused of sexual harassment by a former aide. He joined the majority of judges who ruled to overturn the national right to abortion last year. He also went further than his colleagues, saying the conservative-dominated court should also examine its rulings on contraception and same-sex marriage. Activists, politicos call for reform “We have been here before,” said Gabe Roth, executive director of reform group Fix the Court told the Los Angeles Times.  “Clarence Thomas has been taking these trips for decades and not disclosing them.” The ProPublica investigation, based on interviews and reviews of photographs and other documents, showed “the Supreme Court is the least accountable part of our government,” Fix the Court said. “Nothing is going to change without a wholesale, lawmaker-led reimagining of its responsibilities when it comes to basic measures of oversight,” Roth said in a statement. Senator Dick Durbin tweeted:

The highest court in the land shouldn’t have the lowest ethical standard.

Justice Thomas’ lavish undisclosed trips with a GOP mega-donor undermine the trust that our country places in the Supreme Court.

Time for an enforceable code of conduct for Justices.

— Senator Dick Durbin (@SenatorDurbin) April 6, 2023

With inputs from agencies Read all the  Latest News,  Trending News,  Cricket News,  Bollywood News, India News and  Entertainment News here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.