This spring and summer have seen a surge in the investigation of Supreme Court ethics issues, with numerous previously undisclosed financial benefits granted to several justices coming to light, most notably to Justice Clarence Thomas. The examination and exposure of Thomas’s finances have taken a significant path, following the release of an article by ProPublica that detailed two decades of travel and gifts received by Thomas from billionaire Harlan Crow. Subsequent reports revealed a deeper fiscal engagement between the duo, which also involved properties and education funding.
Furthermore, Thomas had shown disregard towards required financial disclosures. Nonetheless, a shift in trend was recently observed. Although a lifetime appointment provides immunity from repentance, Thomas has undertaken minor adjustments to his financial declarations – a move he hopes will reduce the scrutiny. Amid giving ineffective clarifications about why he had previously refrained from revealing the grants, the publication of his 2022 financial disclosure attempts to rectify some past omissions. Nevertheless, even this is inadequate according to Gabe Roth, Executive Director of Fix the Court, with multiple loopholes identified in his report.
Thomas used his latest disclosure as a platform to protect his former, incomplete reporting. Roth notes that “Justice Thomas’s long 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.” Additionally, he turned to the overturning of abortion rights in the Dobbs decision as justification for his pattern of taking private flights.
Despite his recent attempts at transparency, Thomas has failed to reveal all benefits. Even when these benefits are publicly known, he has still fallen short in his disclosures. This emphasizes a fundamental need for improvement regarding disclosure practices to evade the mere semblance of impropriety.