Justice Thomas says he didn’t have to disclose luxury trips with Dallas billionaire

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas said Friday he was not required to disclose the many trips he and his wife took that were paid for by Republican megadonor Harlan Crow.

WASHINGTON - Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas responded Friday to questions about gifts he received from a well-known Dallas businessman and GOP donor.

The nonprofit investigative journalism organization ProPublica reported Thursday that Thomas has, for more than two decades, accepted luxury trips from Harlan Crow nearly every year.

Though there’s not consensus, some experts in the area of legal ethics said the unreported gifts are concerning, and some Democrats are now calling for further action.

You don’t have to look hard in Dallas to find the Crow family name, as it’s been a source of business and philanthropy for decades.

But now, Harlan Crow, chairman of Crow Holdings, is at the center of a story raising questions about gifts to Supreme Court Justice Thomas.

ProPublica reported that Thomas has, for years, been accepting gifts in the form of luxury trips from Crow without disclosing them.

ProPublica describes, as an example, a 2019 trip featuring a private plane to Indonesia and "…nine days of island-hopping in a volcanic archipelago on a superyacht."

The outlet reports: "If Thomas had chartered the plane and the 162-foot yacht himself, the total cost of the trip could have exceeded $500,000."

WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 07: United States Supreme Court Associate Justice Clarence Thomas poses for an official portrait at the East Conference Room of the Supreme Court building on October 7, 2022 in Washington, DC. The Supreme Court has begun a ne

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"It look like, based on the reporting, he should have disclosed at least the plane rides and the yacht trips as gifts on his federal disclosure forms, which he has to fill out, just like every other federal judge," Loyola Maramount University professor of law Jessica Levinson said.

Thomas released a statement Friday, saying, in part: "Early in my tenure at the Court, I sought guidance from my colleagues and others in the judiciary, and was advised that this sort of personal hospitality from close personal friends, who did not have business before the Court, was not reportable."

The U.S. Supreme Court does not have an ethics code.

The news this week is prompting some Democratic lawmakers to call for change.

North Texas Congressman Colin Allred tweeted: "The Supreme Court is the only judicial body in the country not governed by a code of ethics. We should change that."

But for now, Thomas isn’t facing any sort of punishment for not reporting.

"That’s not a great precedent to set, and I don’t think there will be serious repercussions," Levinson said.

In a statement to ProPublica, Crow acknowledged "extending hospitality" to Justice Thomas.

He also said he’s never sought to influence Thomas on any legal or political issue.