Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has admitted in his annual financial report to receiving three trips from billionaire Harlan Crow in 2022. This information became public on Thursday, bringing into the limelight the controversial subject of justices receiving extravagant gifts during their service on the United States Supreme Court.
The disclosure comes in the aftermath of political backlash that Justice Thomas faced for accepting such gifts. This was further fueled by a report by ProPublica that accused Thomas of accepting millions of dollars’ worth of gifts which included travel with Harlan Crow.
The recent financial disclosure reveals three trips funded by Crow in 2022. Two of these trips were for events in Dallas, Texas – where Justice Thomas served as a Keynote Speaker – and one to Keese Mills, New York where Justice Thomas was Crow’s guest. The report does not reveal the exact amount received by Thomas, only the reasons for these hunts.
According to the ‘Additional Information’ section in the disclosure, the mention of these reimbursed trips came as a result of clarification provided at the Judicial Conference that took place in March 2023. This clarity was in regards to the gift reporting requirements that fall under the 1984 Judicial Conference Regulations.
The disclosure further clarifies:
“On March 14, 2023, the Judicial Conference provided new guidance on the ‘personal hospitality’ exemption to explicitly state for the first time that ‘transportation that substitutes for commercial transportation’ will no longer be considered exempt from reporting under that provision. As a result, filer will report any such trips, beginning with this filing for calendar year 2022.”
The report presents details from previous years deemed as ‘inadvertently omitted’ from former financial statements. This includes bank accounts from 2017 to 2021 and a real estate transaction with Harlan Crow dating as far back as 2014.