The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee says Judge Clarence Thomas has taken more trips paid for by conservative donors than previously disclosed.
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The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee said Thursday that the committee’s subpoena for a conservative donor revealed additional travel and gifts from Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas that the judge did not disclose.
A subpoena from conservative megadonor Harlan Crow revealed that Thomas flew on a private jet between St. Louis and Kalispell, Montana, in May 2017 and on a flight back to Dallas; 2019 In March 2021, he took a private plane from Washington, DC to Savannah, Georgia and back; in June 2021, the judge traveled from Washington, DC to San Jose, California, and back.
Sen. Dick Durbin, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said in a statement: “The documents also show that the recently disclosed July 2019 trip to Indonesia included private jet travel; the recently disclosed July 2019 trip to Indonesia an eight-day yacht trip; and a recently disclosed July 2019 private jet trip to Santa Rosa, California, all of which Thomas did not disclose in last week’s revision to his 2019 financial disclosure report. Crowe’s documents show different dates for a trip to Indonesia in July 2019, further casting doubt on the accuracy of the details Judge Thomas decided to reveal.
A week ago, Thomas acknowledged in his annual financial disclosure that Crowe paid for the trip.
The court has been at the center of controversy after incidents involving Thomas and other judges were revealed. Under pressure from Congress and the public, the court last November adopted its first ethics code — which lacks an enforcement mechanism.
As news of Thomas’s receipt of gifts and travels from Crowe came to light, public trust in the courts declined. Justice Samuel Alito has also been criticized for failing to disclose a fishing trip with Paul Singer, a Republican megadonor who is presiding over a case before the Supreme Court. Alito has been criticized for flying a flag associated with pro-Trump activists outside his residence.
