Clarence Thomas Has Been Living Large Off a GOP Megadonor for Decades: Report
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Conservative Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has been regularly taking luxury trips financed by a billionaire Republican donor for over 20 years, according to a new investigation from ProPublica.
Thomas “virtually every year” has accepted rides on private jets, stays at private resorts, and invitations to hang out on superyachts owned by real-estate mogul Harlan Crow. He hasn’t disclosed any of it, which ethics experts spoken to by ProPublica say could violate a federal law requiring justices to disclose most gifts.
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Meanwhile, Thomas has been one of the most conservative justices on a court dominated by conservatives. When the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last year, Thomas wrote a concurring opinion arguing it should reconsider rulings that established the right to contraception and same-sex marriage. He also made controversial rulings about the 2020 election results while his wife, Ginni Thomas, was pushing conspiracy theories and aggressively lobbying for the results to be overturned.
Crow has given $10 million in public political contributions, ProPublica notes, but there’s no telling how much undisclosed dark money he’s ferried to conservative causes. He’s been a driving force behind the right-wing Club for Growth and sits on the board of multiple conservative groups. He also gave $500,000 to Liberty Central, the Tea Party group founded by Ginni Thomas. Crow claimed in a statement to ProPublica that the hospitality he’s offered Thomas over the years is “no different” than what he has “extended to our many other dear friends.”
ProPublica reports that Thomas spends a week every summer at Crow’s 100-plus acre private, invitation-only resort in the Adirondacks, where he hobnobs with other Republican power players. There’s even a painting of said hobnobbing hanging in the resort, depicting Thomas smoking a cigar next to Crow and a few others, including lawyer and activist Leonard Leo of The Federalist Society. Thomas has also cruised around the world on Crow’s superyacht, flown around it on his private jet, and accepted lavish gifts like a Bible once owned by Frederick Douglass.
Thomas’ history of vacationing with billionaires runs counter to the image he’s portrayed publicly, ProPublica notes, which is that of a man of the people. “I prefer the RV parks. I prefer the Walmart parking lots to the beaches and things like that,” he once said. “There’s something normal to me about it,” Thomas said. “I come from regular stock, and I prefer that — I prefer being around that.”
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