Clarence Thomas discloses he was paid for trips by Republican billionaire Harlan Crow. It's about time!

After months of speculation, Clarence Thomas has finally come forward to address the private jet trips he took in 2022 that were made public earlier this year. On August 31st, the Supreme Court Justice revealed that Republican megadonor Harlan Crow offered him private transportation for a speech in Texas and a vacation at Crow's New York estate.

The announcement comes after Thomas received an extension to file the yearly reports, which were originally due in May. Thomas has been facing backlash for not properly disclosing real estate transactions, luxurious trips, and gifts from wealthy friends. His legal team argued that there were “no willful ethics transgressions” and said any prior reports were “strictly inadvertent”. They also disputed the claims against Thomas, describing them as a “partisan feeding frenzy”.

ProPublica was the first to expose Thomas' long-time friendship with Crow and revealed the extent of the travel arrangements. Thomas never denied the friendship, but claimed that Crow had no business before the court. He said he never disclosed the trips because he was advised that he didn't have to report them. The rules of disclosure were changed in March 2023, shortly before the ProPublica report was released.

At first, Thomas classified the gifts from Crow as “personal hospitality”. Gabe Roth, executive director of judicial ethics watchdog Fix the Court, agreed to the disclosures but said more could have been done on Thomas' end. He said, “Justice Thomas' lengthy explanation as to why he omitted various gifts and free trips on previous disclosures does not countermand his decades of willful obfuscation when it comes to his reporting requirements.”

Chief Justice John Roberts understands the need for more to be done. He and other justices agree that additional ethics rules may be necessary. Although the controversy surrounding Thomas has raised questions about the ethical values of the Supreme Court, it is still yet to be seen what changes will be made.

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