(AFP) – US Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas officially acknowledged on Friday that two luxury vacations he took in 2019 were paid for by a billionaire Republican political donor.
The belated disclosure was made in annual financial reports filed by all but one of the nine justices on the nation’s highest court.
The 2019 trips by Thomas to Bali and to a private club in California were funded by Texas real estate tycoon Harlan Crow and have been the subject of some controversy since they were revealed last year by investigative news site ProPublica.
According to ProPublica, the trip to Indonesia paid for by Crow was likely worth a total of $500,000 if the costs of the private plane and yacht travel were factored in.
The Supreme Court adopted an ethics code in November following reports of lavish vacations received by Thomas and another justice, Samuel Alito. Both Thomas and Alito have denied any impropriety.
In his financial disclosure report for 2023, Thomas said Crow paid for food and lodging at a hotel for a July 2019 trip to Bali and food and lodging at a private club in California that same month. It said the items were “inadvertently omitted” on previous filings.
Alito was the only justice yet to file a 2023 financial disclosure report and has requested a 90-day extension.
Alito and Thomas, both archconservatives, have both rejected calls to recuse themselves from cases before the court involving former Republican president Donald Trump. A number of top Democratic lawmakers have called for Alito’s recusal after flags linked to the former president’s false election fraud claims were flown outside his home and vacation property.
Thomas, the longest-service justice on the court, has ignored calls to recuse himself on grounds that his wife took part in the drive to keep Trump in power even after he lost the 2020 election.
The high court is currently weighing a Trump claim of presidential immunity in his election interference case. A ruling is due in late June or early July.
The financial disclosure reports by the justices revealed that three of them have six-figure book deals — $340,000 for Justice Brett Kavanaugh, $250,000 for Justice Neil Gorsuch, and $893,750 for Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, the newest member of the court.
Jackson also acknowledged receiving concert tickets from Beyonce worth $3,711 while Justice Sonia Sotomayor received $1,879 for voicing a character in a cartoon.
© 2024 AFP
