Cruising on a mega-yacht, flying in a private jet… The most conservative US Supreme Court Justice, Clarence Thomas, has for more than 20 years accepted many luxury stays from a billionaire known for his donations to the Republican party, a source said Thursday published press survey.
Investigative online magazine ProPublica says it interviewed “dozens of people” and reviewed internal documents to prove the judge accepted that generosity from businessman Harlan Crow without explaining it.
In 2019, Clarence Thomas and his wife spent a 9-day vacation with Harlan Crow in Indonesia and enjoyed his private jet, yacht and personal chef at an estimated cost of half a million dollars.
ProPublica also notes that almost every summer, Clarence Thomas visits the businessman’s home in the Adirondacks, upstate New York, and accompanies him to California’s “Bohemian Grove,” an all-male, elite political, artistic, and media club – or business personalities.
Possible violations of an ethics law
“Breathtaking” revelations, according to a press release from the association Fix The Court, which advocates a reform of the Supreme Court, temple of American law. This confirms, in their view, the need for a large-scale, election-led reinvention of the Court’s responsibilities, including the introduction of stricter rules on gifts received from its members.
“To preserve public respect for the United States Supreme Court, Justice Thomas must step down immediately,” left-wing lawmaker Hank Johnson tweeted. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has filed for impeachment.
By failing to declare these gifts, the judge may have breached a 1978 Ethics Act passed after Watetgate. The friendship between the court’s longest-serving judge and the real estate magnate was the subject of a 2011 New York Times article, which called it “unusual and ethically sensitive.”
And it’s not the first time Clarence Thomas’ name has been linked to controversy: His wife, Ginni, a lobbyist and activist, was involved in Donald Trump’s crusade to prove – wrongly – that the 2020 presidential election was for had been stolen from him. After the texts and e-mails she sent to this end were uncovered, the left castigated an apparent conflict of interest and asked her husband to withdraw from all election files.