US Supreme Court judge designated for accepting luxurious trips justifies his actions

US Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas said Friday he was not required to disclose the many trips he and his wife took that were paid for by real estate developer and Republican Party donor Harlan Crow.

Through a statement, Thomas described Crow and his wife, Kathy, as two of his “dearest friends.” The judge did not refer to any specific trips paid for by the Republican, but noted: “Like other friends, we have joined them on a series of family trips during the more than quarter century that we have known them.”

He further asserted that, according to his colleagues at the nation’s highest court and others in the federal judiciary, “this type of personal hospitality from close personal friends, who had no business before the Court, was not reportable.”

Supreme Court justices, like other federal judges, must file an annual report of their accounts that requires listing gifts they have received but provides exemptions for generosity from friends.

As reported on Thursday ProPublica, a nonprofit investigative journalism organization, Thomas has traveled aboard Crow’s yacht and private jet, and stayed at his resort in the Adirondacks. Furthermore, he describes a trip to Indonesia in 2019 that, as detailed in the story, could have cost more than $500,000, had Thomas chartered the plane and yacht.

On Thursday, congressional Democrats called for an investigation and even for Thomas’ departure.

In a statement, Crow told ProPublica that he and his wife have been friends with the couple, since 1996, five years after Thomas joined the Supreme Court. The businessman emphasized that “the hospitality” they have given the Thomases “is no different from what they have given other friends and that the couple “never asked for any of this.”

“They have never asked about a case pending or in a lower court, and Judge Thomas has never argued one, and we have never tried to influence Judge Thomas on any legal or political issue,” Crow added.

Thomas, the court’s longest-serving member, said he has always tried to adhere to disclosure guidelines. Regarding the recent changes, he noted that he would abide by the rules that recently went into effect.

Last year, questions about Thomas’ ethics were raised when it was revealed that he did not shy away from electoral cases after the 2020 election, despite the fact that his wife, a conservative activist, contacted lawmakers and the White House itself to encourage them. to reject the election results.

[Con información de AP]

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