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The U.S. Supreme Court building is seen on the day that Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito released their delayed financial disclosure reports and the reports were made public in Washington, U.S., August 31, 2023. The court released its code "to set out succinctly and gather in one place the ethics rules and principles that guide the conduct of the members of the court," according to a brief introductory statement. Unlike other members of the federal judiciary, the Supreme Court's life-tenured justices had long acted with no binding ethics code. Most of the ethics revelations in recent months involved Justice Clarence Thomas, one of the court's most conservative members. The issue had become an political flashpoint, with Democrats in Congress calling on the court to adopt an ethics code, while many Republicans viewed the ethics narrative involving the court as cooked up by liberals upset at its rightward leanings.

Persons: Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Kevin Wurm, Thomas, Harlan Crow, ProPublica, Koch, Anthony Welters, Andrew Chung, Will Dunham Organizations: U.S, Supreme, REUTERS, Rights, Republicans, Democrats, Thomson Locations: Washington , U.S, Texas, New York

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Democrats said Monday they plan to subpoena Republican megadonor Harlan Crow and conservative activist Leonard Leo for more information about their roles in organizing and paying for luxury travel for Supreme Court justices. The announcement by Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee comes as the court is being pressed to adopt an ethics code, a move that has been publicly endorsed by three of the nine justices. Political Cartoons View All 1227 ImagesArkley and Leo have refused to cooperate with the committee's investigation of the justices' largely undisclosed private travel, the committee said. In a statement after Durbin’s announcement, Crow’s office called the subpoena politically motivated and said Crow had offered information to the committee. “It’s clear this is nothing more than a stunt aimed at undermining a sitting Supreme Court Justice for ideological and political purposes,” the statement said.

Persons: Harlan Crow, Leonard Leo, Sen, Dick Durbin, Crow, Leo, Robin Arkley II, Clarence Thomas, Thomas, Donald Trump, Arkley, Samuel Alito, Crow “, ” Durbin, Sheldon Whitehouse, “, Anthony Welters Organizations: WASHINGTON, —, Federalist Society, Republicans, Committee, Senate Finance Locations: Georgia, Alaska

☆ Clarence Thomas ruled against student debt relief. Now a Senate panel alleges his healthcare exec pal forgave his $267,230 loan.
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-26 | by ( Sonam Sheth | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

A Senate committee found that Clarence Thomas had a substantial loan forgiven by a wealthy friend in 2008. Thomas' friend, healthcare exec Anthony Welters, loaned him over $260,000 that Thomas used to purchase a luxury RV. The findings came four months after Thomas joined a majority Supreme Court opinion striking down Biden's student debt forgiveness plan. The Senate Finance Committee said Thomas didn't report the loan on his ethics forms. "Justice Thomas should inform the committee exactly how much debt was forgiven and whether he properly reported the loan forgiveness on his tax returns and paid all taxes owed.

Persons: Clarence Thomas, Thomas, Anthony Welters, —, Joe Biden, Biden, Thomas ', Welters, Thomas didn't, Oregon Sen, Ron Wyden Organizations: Service, White, New York Times, Committee, Finance Locations: Oregon

[1/2] U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Clarence Thomas poses during a group portrait at the Supreme Court in Washington, U.S., October 7, 2022. Durbin said the "undisclosed, forgiven" loan demonstrates the need for a binding code of conduct for the court. The documents showed that Welters forgave the loan in 2008, according to the findings. The Senate Judiciary Committee in July approved a Democratic-backed bill that would mandate a binding ethics code for the justices. Thomas and Welters did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Persons: Clarence Thomas, Evelyn Hockstein, Thomas, Anthony Welters, Dick Durbin, Durbin, Welters, Ron Wyden, Elliot Berke, Berke, Harlan Crow, Steven Lubet, Lubet, Stephen Gillers, Andrew Chung, John Kruzel, Will Dunham Organizations: U.S, Supreme, REUTERS, Rights, Welters, Democratic, hobnobbing, Senate, New York Times, Texas, Crow, Northwestern University, New York University, Thomson Locations: Washington , U.S, New York, Washington

☆ Clarence Thomas Never Paid Back Luxury RV Loan, Senate Inquiry Finds
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-25 | by ( Kelsey Vlamis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The Senate Finance Committee found Clarence Thomas never paid back a $267,230 loan from a rich friend. The New York Times previously reported Thomas used the loan to buy a luxury RV. AdvertisementAdvertisementSupreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas spent $267,230 on a luxury RV with a loan from a wealthy friend, but never fully paid it back, the Senate Finance Committee said Wednesday. The committee said Thomas paid interest payments on the loan but never paid a "substantial portion" of the loan, and possibly never paid back any portion of the principal. He did not answer additional questions about how much Thomas had paid back on the loan.

Persons: Clarence Thomas, Thomas, —, Anthony Welters, Welters, it's Organizations: Finance, New York Times, Service, Senate Finance, The New York Times, Supreme, Times

☆ Justice Thomas’s R.V. Loan Was Forgiven, Senate Inquiry Finds
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-25 | by ( Jo Becker | More About Jo Becker | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Only then would the principal come due. But despite the favorable nature of the 1999 loan and a lengthy extension to make good on his obligations, Justice Thomas failed to repay a “significant portion” — or perhaps any — of the $267,230 principal, according to a new report by Democratic members of the Senate Finance Committee. Nearly nine years later, after Justice Thomas had made an unclear number of the interest payments, the outstanding debt was forgiven, an outcome with ethical and potential tax consequences for the justice. “This was, in short, a sweetheart deal” that made no logical sense from a business perspective, Michael Hamersley, a tax lawyer who has served as a congressional expert witness, told The New York Times. The Senate inquiry was prompted by a Times investigation published in August that revealed that Justice Thomas bought his Prevost Marathon Le Mirage XL, a brand favored by touring rock bands and the super-wealthy, with financing from Anthony Welters, a longtime friend who made his fortune in the health care industry.

Persons: Clarence Thomas, Thomas, Justice Thomas, ”, Michael Hamersley, Anthony Welters Organizations: Democratic, Senate Finance, New York Times, Times

☆ Justice Thomas Reports Private Trips With Harlan Crow
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-31 | by ( Abbie Vansickle | More About Abbie Vansickle | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

But Justices Thomas and Samuel A. Alito Jr. requested 90-day extensions, according to the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, which collects and publishes the forms. Mr. Crow treated the justice on a series of lavish trips, including flights on his private jet, island-hopping on his superyacht and vacationing at his estate in the Adirondacks. Mr. Crow also bought the justice’s mother’s home in Savannah, Ga., and covered a portion of private school tuition for the justice’s great-nephew, whom he was raising. Other wealthy friends have hosted Justice Thomas, including David L. Sokol, the former heir apparent to Berkshire Hathaway. In the years that followed, Mr. Singer repeatedly had business before the court.

Persons: Thomas, Samuel A, Alito Jr, Thomas’s, Harlan Crow, ProPublica, Crow, David L, Berkshire Hathaway, Anthony Welters, underwrote, Prevost, ” Justice Alito, Paul Singer, Singer Organizations: Administrative, U.S . Courts, Sokol, ” Locations: Texas, Savannah , Ga, Berkshire, Washington, Alaska

☆ Opinion | Where’s the Vicuña Outrage?
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-12 | by ( Maureen Dowd | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

There was a single word that encapsulated such an outrage: vicuña. President Dwight Eisenhower’s chief of staff, Sherman Adams, accepted a vicuña coat from a Boston textile manufacturer doing business with the federal government. Now Thomas sneers at the law by failing to disclose gifts from billionaires eager to gain influence. (The gifts also benefited his wife, Ginni Thomas, who tried to help Trump overthrow the government.) ProPublica told the ka-ching: “At least 38 destination vacations … 26 private jet flights … a dozen V.I.P.

Persons: Dwight Eisenhower’s, Sherman Adams, Thomas sneers, Ginni Thomas, ProPublica, ” Thomas, Anita Hill, Joe Biden, Prevost Le, Thomas, Anthony Welters Organizations: Trump, Times Locations: Boston, ”, Washington

☆ Justice Clarence Thomas enjoyed more vacations, private flights and perks thanks to wealthy friends, new ProPublica report details
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-10 | by ( Tierney Sneed | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

These costly trips and travel perks often went unreported on the justice’s financial disclosure forms, ProPublica said in its investigation. Lynne Sladky/APProPublica interviewed more than 100 people, including staff that would have worked some of the trips that Thomas took. Thomas did not respond to ProPublica’s detailed list of questions for its report, nor did Novelly. None of the Thomas benefactors highlighted in the new report appear to have had direct business in front of the Supreme Court, ProPublica said. Thomas intends to amend his financial disclosure forms, a source close to the justice previously told CNN, to at least reflect Crow’s 2014 purchase of Thomas’ mother’s home.

Persons: Clarence Thomas, Thomas, ProPublica, Harlan Crow, Thomas ’, Crow, “, ” Thomas, David Sokol, Berkshire Hathaway, Wayne Huizenga, Paul “ Tony ” Novelly, Lynne Sladky, Huizenga, Daniel Acker, Getty Images Sokol, ” Sokol, Republican megadonors, he’s, Paul Anthony, Tony, Novelly, Horatio, Jeremy Fogel, ”, Fogel, Horatio Alger, John Roberts, Roberts, Samuel Alito, Thomas ’ mother’s, Anthony Welters, Obama Organizations: CNN, GOP, Blockbuster, Waste Management Inc, NFL, Miami Dolphins, New York Jets, US Marshals Service, Berkshire Hathaway Inc, Bloomberg, Getty Images, Republican, Horatio Alger, Distinguished, Horatio, Horatio Alger Association, New York Times, The New York Times, Democratic, Times Locations: Florida, Berkshire, Miami, Omaha , Nebraska

☆ Clarence Thomas purchased his luxury RV with the help of a wealthy former healthcare executive: NYT
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-05 | by ( Charles R. Davis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas purchased a $267,000 RV with the help of a wealthy friend. A spokesperson for the Supreme Court did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In a statement to the Times, Welters said he had provided Thomas a loan so he could buy the RV. But Welters refused to say how much money he had lent the Supreme Court justice, nor on what terms. The revelation comes amid a push to impose new ethics requirements on Supreme Court justices.

Persons: Clarence Thomas, Thomas, Anthony Welters, Welters, Barack Obama, Ginni, —, Reagan, Beatrice, Obama, Harlan Crow, Sen, Dick Durbin Organizations: The New York Times, Service, Supreme, New York Times, Times, Historical Society, Illinois Democrat Locations: The, Wall, Silicon, America, Illinois

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