Undisclosed Luxury Travel: Unveiling Justice Clarence Thomas' Connections with Republican Megadonor Harlan Crow

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has been under scrutiny for his undisclosed travels aboard the private jet of Republican megadonor Harlan Crow. The Democratic chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, exposed this information in a letter to Michael Bopp, Crow's lawyer, revealing that Thomas and his wife, Ginni, took a trip from Hawaii to New Zealand on Crow's private jet in November 2010, and returned on the same plane a week later. Interestingly, Crow was also a passenger on these flights. Wyden's investigation into the relationship between Thomas and Crow unveiled that the justice did not disclose this travel on his annual financial disclosure forms. The senator is now demanding information not only about the 2010 travel but also about other trips Thomas took on Crow's yacht, the Michaela Rose, and other financial records. Michael Zona, a spokesman for Crow, dismissed Wyden's inquiries as a politically motivated campaign, intending to harass a private citizen. He further accused Wyden of abusing the Senate Finance Committee's powers and claimed that Crow and his businesses are in good standing with the IRS, following applicable tax laws. Thomas, who has been friends with Crow for more than two decades, maintained that he did not have to report the travel under disclosure guidelines. However, he pledged to comply with new guidelines from the Judicial Conference regarding personal hospitality. In his 2023 financial disclosure report, Thomas included trips aboard Crow's private jet and a stay at his property in the Adirondacks. He also disclosed a 2014 real estate transaction with Crow, which was uncovered by ProPublica last year. In his latest disclosure report, Thomas amended his filing to include two trips he took with Crow in 2019 to Bali and Monte Rio, California.

However, Senate Democrats, including Wyden, claim they still do not have a complete picture of the travel Thomas received from Crow. The Senate Judiciary Committee revealed that Thomas took three undisclosed trips aboard Crow's private jet, including to Kalispell, Montana, near Glacier National Park, in 2017; and roundtrip flights to Savannah, Georgia, in 2019 and San Jose, California, in 2021. Wyden is seeking to understand the 'means and scale' of Crow's 'undisclosed largesse' to Thomas, expressing concern that Crow may have been showering a public official with extravagant gifts and writing them off to lower his tax bill. In addition to the private jet travel in 2010, Wyden mentioned other undisclosed trips, including aboard the Michaela Rose in Greece and New Zealand, and unreported travel on the yacht in the Caribbean, Russia, and the Baltics. Wyden insists that this information is necessary to inform several bills his committee is working on, including tax code reforms, audit requirements for Supreme Court justices, and ethics reforms that would bolster disclosure rules for Supreme Court justices. In response to the latest revelations, congressional Democrats have called for reforms at the Supreme Court. President Biden offered three proposals, two of which would require legislation approved by Congress: 18-year term limits for justices and an enforceable, binding code of conduct. White House spokesperson Andrew Bates emphasized the need for an enforceable code of conduct for the Supreme Court, stating that conflicts of interest on the Supreme

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