Judge Clarence Thomas of the US Supreme Court defended his decision not to disclose that he had accepted lavish trips from a Republican megadonor on Friday, claiming that he had been told at the time that he did not need to report it.
In a statement made public by the Supreme Court’s public information office, Thomas referred to Harlan Crow, a conservative businessman, and his wife Kathy as his family’s “dearest friends.”
In the more than 25 years that we have known them, “as friends do, we have accompanied them on a lot of family trips,” he noted. Early in my time at the Court, I asked for advice from my coworkers and other members of the judiciary, and I was told that this type of personal hospitality should not be accepted from distant friends.
Thomas declared, “I have tried to abide by that advice throughout my employment and have always endeavoured to comply with the disclosure rules.
The justifications followed the publication of a piece on Thursday by nonprofit investigative media group ProPublica, which said Thomas had long taken lavish vacations from the Crows.
It became clear that Thomas and his wife, Virginia “Ginni” Thomas, received financial support from the conservative businessman for their expensive vacations, which included sailing on Crow’s super yacht and staying at his opulent residences.
