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☆ Clarence Thomas's first public scandal came in 1980, when he was a no-name aide to a GOP senator and complained to a journalist that his sister just waited by the mailbox for her welfare check
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( Kelsey Vlamis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

In 1980, 32-year-old Clarence Thomas was a no-name aide to a Republican senator. At a conference for Black conservatives, he complained to a journalist about his sister being on welfare. The journalist, Juan Williams, wrote a column about it that caught the attention of Reagan's team. "She gets mad when the mailman is late with her welfare check," Thomas said, according to Williams. Reagan ended up making massive cuts to welfare programs and allowing states to institute work requirements for welfare recipients.

☆ Clarence Thomas, who accepted lavish gifts from a billionaire, argued that a law prohibiting taking bribes is too vague to be fairly enforced
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-11 | by ( Rebecca Cohen | Madison Hall | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas — who accepted lavish gifts and luxury vacations from a billionaire for years — signed off on a Supreme Court opinion Thursday arguing that a law prohibiting taking bribes is too vague to be fairly enforced. Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote in a concurring opinion — on which Thomas signed off — that a federal anti-bribery law wasn't clear enough. "To this day, no one knows what 'honest-services fraud' encompasses," Gorsuch wrote. Crow described Thomas as a friend and insisted he never sought to influence the conservative Supreme Court justice. Additionally, the Senate Judiciary Committee asked Crow for a list of any gifts he's given to a Supreme Court justice or their family.

☆ Justice Elena Kagan was worried about the ethics of accepting bagels from friends, while Clarence Thomas was enjoying expensive vacations paid for by a GOP megadonor: report
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-11 | by ( Joshua Zitser | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan once turned down a care package of bagels and lox, per Forward. She was concerned she could be violating the court's ethics rules for accepting gifts, friends said. Meanwhile, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas was accepting lavish holidays from a GOP megadonor. And unlike the rest of the federal judiciary, the Supreme Court is not bound by a code of conduct. The Supreme Court did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

☆ The Senate Judiciary Committee just asked GOP megadonor Harlan Crow for a list of any gifts he's given to a Supreme Court justice
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Madison Hall | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee sent a letter to Harlan Crow on Monday. The letter asks Crow to list any gifts he's given to a Supreme Court justice or their family worth more than $415. The letter follows reporting from ProPublica documenting the many vacations Crow's paid for with Justice Clarence Thomas. The Judiciary Committee sent its letter to Crow a week after it held a hearing on ethics reform for the Supreme Court, which Chief Justice John Roberts declined to attend. "They've done a pretty good job in the last week or two of unfairly slamming me and more importantly than that, unfairly slamming Justice Thomas."

☆ Senate Judiciary chair says ‘everything is on the table’ in response to Clarence Thomas revelations
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-07 | by ( Aileen Graef | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Washington CNN —Senate Judiciary Chair Dick Durbin said Sunday that “everything is on the table” as the panel scrutinizes new ethics concerns around Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. Crow also purchased several real estate properties, including the home where Thomas’ mother lives, from the Thomas family and paid boarding school tuition for Thomas’ grandnephew, according to ProPublica. But Durbin said Sunday the recent revelations “just embarrasses me” as he called on Chief Justice John Roberts to impose a code of conduct on the court. Roberts previously declined Durbin’s request to voluntarily testify in a hearing on Supreme Court ethics. Feinstein, 89, has been away from the Senate since March as she recovers at home in California from shingles.

☆ Clarence Thomas — who let a GOP megadonor foot bills for him for years — said being a Supreme Court justice 'is not worth doing for what they pay'
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( Kelsey Vlamis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

In a 2001 speech, Thomas said serving on the Supreme Court wasn't worth it for the money. "The job is not worth doing for what they pay," Thomas said during a speech in 2001, The New York Post reported at the time. The Post reported Thomas cried during the speech and thanked his lawyer who worked on the custody battle. In 2001, the salary for an associate Supreme Court justice was $178,300, while the chief justice made $186,300. A group of 15 Democratic lawmakers now wants to withhold $10 million from Supreme Court funding until the court adopts a code of ethics, The Hill reported.

☆ 2 Supreme Court justices failed to recuse themselves from cases involving their publisher after receiving exorbitant amounts in book advances and royalties
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( Madison Hall | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

On two occasions, the Supreme Court has declined to take on cases involving publishing conglomerate Penguin Random House. There have been two cases that came before the Supreme Court involving publishing conglomerate Penguin Random House. In both situations, the Supreme Court declined to take on the copyright infringement cases, allowing the publisher to win at a lower court level. Conservative Justice Neil Gorsuch was confirmed in 2017 and was also a member of the Supreme Court during the second case. Sotomayor and Gorsuch had both signed major book deals with the publisher before the cases occurred, and both justices declined to recuse themselves from the cases involving Penguin Random House.

☆ GOP megadonor Harlan Crow paid for Clarence Thomas to send a child in his custody to a $6,000-a-month private boarding school: ProPublica
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Joshua Zitser | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas sent a child in his custody to a private boarding school. GOP megadonor Harlan Crow paid at least some of the child's $6,000-a-month tuition, per ProPublica. Tuition at the Hidden Lake Academy cost more than $6,000 a month, but ProPublica reported that Thomas did not pay for Martin's education himself. A former administrator at the school, Christopher Grimwood, told ProPublica that Crow covered the costs of Martin's entire education at the school — about a year. If Crow had paid for Martin's education at both schools over a period of four years, he would have spent more than $150,000, ProPublica said.

☆ The same year Clarence Thomas sent a child to a private boarding school on Harlan Crow's dime, a parent testified that the academy used children for free labor
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Grace Eliza Goodwin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The school Clarence Thomas sent a child to has been accused of forcing students into hard labor. A ProPublica report found that Harlan Crow footed the school's $6,000-a-month bill for Thomas. Thomas has been accused of judicial misconduct for not reporting gifts he received from Crow. These activities could go on "for as long as 8 hours," the parent wrote. Justice Thomas has been accused of judicial misconduct after a series of reports from ProPublica detailed his acceptance of unreported lavish gifts from Crow.

☆ A group of Democratic senators want to withhold $10 million in Supreme Court funding until it adopts a public code of ethics: report
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Madison Hall | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A group of fifteen Democratic senators sent a letter in March asking to withhold $10 million in Supreme Court funding. The senators said the $10 million should be withheld until a public code of ethics is instituted for the court. "Congress has broad authority to compel the Supreme Court to institute these reforms, which would join other requirements already legislatively mandated. At a Supreme Court ethics hearing on Tuesday, Republican Sen. Josh Hawley appeared to take umbrage at the Democratic senators' request, asserting the $10 million that would be cut from the Supreme Court's budget would directly impact their security. She added that cutting funding for the Supreme Court's security simply wasn't on the table.

☆ A law school named after the late Antonin Scalia is a haven for conservative Supreme Court justices to enjoy lavish treatment, New York Times reports
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-01 | by ( Hannah Getahun | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Antonin Scalia Law School at the Virginia-based George Mason University was renamed in 2016. The renaming was part of a plan to help its reputation by getting closer to the Supreme Court. Justices were given notable benefits to teach there, emails obtained by The New York Times reveal. This desire to keep Supreme Court leadership on their roster even superseded scandals the judges faced. The Antonin Scalia Law School and a spokesperson for the Supreme Court did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

☆ Sen. Wyden asks billionaire Harlan Crow for list of gifts to Supreme Court Justice Thomas
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Dan Mangan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., on Monday asked GOP megadonor Harlan Crow for a complete list of gifts to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and evidence that the billionaire real estate developer complied with federal tax law in connection with the long-undisclosed largesse to Thomas. "This unprecedented arrangement between a wealthy benefactor and a Supreme Court justice raises serious concerns related to federal tax and ethics laws," Wyden, who heads the Senate Finance Committee, wrote in a six-page letter to Crow. Thomas had not disclosed any of the gifts from Crow, or the property purchases by him, until they were revealed by ProPublica. "The secrecy surrounding your dealings with Justice Thomas is simply unacceptable," Wyden wrote in his letter to Crow. "The American public deserves a full accounting of the full extent of your largesse towards Justice Thomas, including whether these gifts complied with all relevant federal tax and ethics laws," he wrote.

CNN —Senate Judiciary Chairman Dick Durbin has requested that Chief Justice John Roberts or “another Justice whom you designate” appear before his committee next month for a hearing on Supreme Court ethics rules. The hospitality was not disclosed on Thomas’ public financial filings with the Supreme Court, ProPublica said. In his letter, Durbin argued that there is precedent for justices to testify before the committee, citing a hearing in 2011 when then-justices Stephen Breyer and Antonin Scalia appeared for a hearing. These problems were already apparent back in 2011, and the Court’s decade-long failure to address them has contributed to a crisis of public confidence,” Durbin wrote. “The status quo is no longer tenable.”The Supreme Court did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

☆ AOC says there's an easy solution if Clarence Thomas wants a life of luxury: 'Resign from the court'
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-18 | by ( Nicole Gaudiano | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez weighed in on Justice Clarence Thomas' undisclosed luxury trips. Public servants who want to live a luxury lifestyle "can resign from the court," she said. Thomas reportedly took undisclosed vacations with a GOP megadonor over the past 20 years. And if they want to live that kind of lifestyle, then they can resign from the court. Host Jordan Klepper asked who she thought would write the opinion if conflicting rulings on the abortion pill mifepristone make it to the Supreme Court.

☆ GOP Megadonor Harlan Crow claims he's the victim of 'a political hit job' after reporting showed he paid for Clarence Thomas' lavish vacations and bought property from him
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-17 | by ( Brent D. Griffiths | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

GOP megadonor Harlan Crow defended his ties to Justice Clarence Thomas. "I think it's a political hit job," Crow told The Dallas Morning News. "I think it's a political hit job," Crow told Dallas Morning News columnist Cheryl Hall in his largest response to ProPublica's bombshell reports. "I don't think the media cares really much about Harlan Crow, and I think they're right. Engelberg added that the publication reached out to Justice Thomas and Crow with extensive questions about what their reporting uncovered.

☆ GOP megadonor Harlan Crow isn't charging Clarence Thomas' mother rent. Zillow estimates suggest that would have saved her $155,000 since 2014.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-17 | by ( Chris Panella | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

GOP megadonor Harlan Crow bought SCOTUS justice Clarence Thomas' mother's house in October 2014. Thomas' mother still lives there rent-free, CNN reported. And that deal may have saved her more than $150,000 in rent for the property, according to Zillow estimates. According to Zillow's estimates for what the property would cost to rent, Williams could have saved as much as $154,900 over the years. ProPublica reported that after the sale, renovations equating to thousands of dollars were made to the home, including a repaired roof and a new carport.

☆ Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas reportedly has been claiming thousands of dollars annually from a shuttered real estate firm
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-16 | by ( Ashley Capoot | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Associate Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas arrives for the swearing in ceremony of Judge Neil Gorsuch as an Associate Supreme Court Justice in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, April 10, 2017. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas reported on financial disclosure forms that his family has earned thousands of dollars in rental income from a Nebraska real estate firm that has been shuttered since 2006, according to a report by the Washington Post Sunday. Thomas has reported income from a firm called Ginger, Ltd., Partnership over the last two decades, but in 2006 it was shut down and replaced by a new firm, the report said. In recent years, Thomas reportedly continued to disclose between $50,000 and $100,000 in income from the old firm annually. ProPublica later reported that Crow bought property from Thomas as well, which the justice also failed to disclose.

☆ Clarence Thomas' benefactor, the billionaire megadonor Harlan Crow, has a collection of Hitler artifacts and Nazi memorabilia: report
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-08 | by ( John L. Dorman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Clarence Thomas benefactor Harlan Crow has an art collection that includes Nazi memorabilia, the Washingtonian reported. A bombshell ProPublica report revealed that Thomas had taken undisclosed trips funded by Crow for more than 20 years. "I still can't get over the collection of Nazi memorabilia," an individual who has remained anonymous and who attended an event at Crow's home told the magazine. When the Morning News reporter finally saw the garden of dictator statues, Crow described it as an acknowledgment of the inhumanity that some men have shown to others. The news of Crow's collection comes after a bombshell ProPublica report, which detailed how Thomas has taken luxury vacations funded by the megadonor for more than 20 years without disclosing the excursions.

☆ Justice Clarence Thomas Defends Luxury Travel Paid for by Billionaire GOP Donor
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-07 | by ( Jan Wolfe | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

Justice Thomas said he consulted with other judges years ago and determined that he didn’t need to disclose the gifts on his annual financial disclosure forms. WASHINGTON—Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas on Friday defended his decision not to disclose years of lavish vacations and private-jet travel paid for by a billionaire friend, calling the trips personal hospitality that federal judges in the past haven’t been required to report. The statement, issued through the court’s spokeswoman, came in response to an investigative report by ProPublica on Thursday. The ProPublica article documented how Justice Thomas and his wife, conservative activist Ginni Thomas, have gone on several luxury trips involving travel subsidized by and stays at properties owned by Republican Party megadonor Harlan Crow . The report prompted calls from Democratic lawmakers for legislative action to strengthen ethical standards for Supreme Court justices.

☆ Clarence Thomas claims he was told it was not necessary to publicly report the $500,000 trips he took with GOP mega donor Harlan Crow
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-07 | by ( Brent D. Griffiths | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Justice Thomas defended himself after a bombshell report raised questions about his financial disclosures. Thomas said that he had followed guidance by not disclosing lavish trips financed by a GOP megadonor who he considers a close friend. Thomas' explanation comes a day after ProPublica's bombshell report that extensively detailed how Crow secretly finance private trips Thomas took for over 20 years. This appears to conflict with an earlier practice by Thomas, who once did report Crow's gifts. Multiple ethics experts told ProPublica that Thomas had clearly violated ethics requirements by not disclosing the more recent trips.

☆ GOP billionaire who funded Clarence Thomas's vacations has also given thousands of dollars to Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-06 | by ( Bryan Metzger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

GOP megadonor Harlan Crow has been secretly funding lavish vacations for Justice Clarence Thomas. But he's also given thousands to Democrats who've stymied the party's agenda at various times. Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema, as well as Reps. Josh Gottheimer and Henry Cuellar. According to federal campaign finance data, the Texas billionaire has given $16,800 to Rep. Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey since 2018, contributing thousands as recently as October 2022. For his part, Crow told ProPublica in a statement that he and his wife "have never sought to influence Justice Thomas on any legal or political issue."

☆ Clarence Thomas has accepted undisclosed luxury trips from GOP megadonor for decades, report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-06 | by ( Kevin Breuninger | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Associate Justice Clarence Thomas during the formal group photograph at the Supreme Court in Washington, DC, US, on Friday, Oct. 7, 2022. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has accepted secret luxury trips from Republican megadonor Harlan Crow for more than two decades in apparent violation of a financial disclosure law, a ProPublica report revealed Thursday. Thomas has vacationed on Crow's 162-foot superyacht, flown on the real estate developer's private jet and spent time at the GOP donor's private resort and other exclusive retreats, ProPublica reported, citing documents and dozens of interviews. Thomas "seems to have completely disregarded his higher ethical obligations," Virginia Canter, chief ethics counsel at the watchdog group CREW, told the outlet. Spokespeople for the Supreme Court and Crow did not immediately respond to CNBC's request for comment on the investigation.

☆ Clarence Thomas slammed from across political spectrum, as former House GOP member says he 'should not be allowed anywhere near a judicial decision'
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-06 | by ( Grace Eliza Goodwin | Warren Rojas | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Former GOP House members are slamming Justice Clarence Thomas over his cozy relationship with a billionaire. One of Thomas' fellow conservatives says he "should not be allowed anywhere near a judicial decision." Because Justice Thomas knew it was wrong to accept these secret gifts." Former GOP Virginia House member Denver Riggleman reacted to ProPublica's report on Twitter, saying "Our country is poisoned from within. Another former Republican House member Adam Kinzinger tweeted "Regardless of your politics, this cannot be acceptable."

☆ How Anti-Abortion Activists Bought Access to the Supreme Court
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-07 | by ( Katherine Long | Jack Newsham | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +29 min

In exchange for as little as a few thousand dollars in contributions to the nonprofit, these people received easy access to events where Supreme Court justices would be. Supreme Court Historical society trustee Jay Sekulow, center, represented President Trump during the latter's impeachment trial in 2020. Anti-abortion advocates cheer in front of the Supreme Court after the decision in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores was announced in 2014. Alito did not respond to a request for comment on his involvement in the Supreme Court Historical Society. Supreme Court justices, though, aren't even required to stay within those weak guardrails because no code of ethics governs justices' behavior.

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