The right-wing billionaire patron of Clarence Thomas insisted Monday he never hoped to influence the Supreme Court judge by treating him to pricey vacations, paying private school tuition and even buying his elderly mother’s home.
Harlan Crow, a GOP mega donor, claimed that he didn’t expect to get anything from Thomas in return for the opulent largesse.
“I have never, nor would I ever, think about talking about matters that relate to the judiciary with (Thomas),” Crow said in an interview with the Atlantic magazine, although he later conceded they “would talk about their jobs from time to time.”
Crow denied any wrongdoing in buying the home of Thomas’ mother and two other nearby properties, renovating the home and allowing her live there rent free in perpetuity.
“It was a fair-market transaction,” said Crow, a Dallas real-estate mogul. “I don’t see the foot fault.”
The interview marked the first time Crow has spoken in any detail about the river of cash he has splashed on Thomas since they supposedly became close personal friends after Thomas joined the nation’s top court.
He has so far refused requests to testify under oath before a Senate committee considering court reforms and possible new ethics rules for Supreme Court justices.
Thomas regularly accepted lavish vacations and gifts worth hundreds of thousands from Crow, including one island-hopping jaunt to Indonesia on a mega-yacht and private plane. He also sold the Georgia home his elderly mother lives in and two other properties to Crow.
Crow paid private school tuition for a now-grown nephew of Thomas whom the judge raised “as a son” because his biological parents had substance-abuse issues.
Thomas did not disclose any of Crow’s gifts on mandatory annual financial disclosure forms.
It’s not known if Crow disclosed the gifts on his federal tax returns.
Thomas has claimed that he was told by unnamed fellow judges that the extravagant gifts were not “reportable” because he and Crow are also personal friends.
Despite enjoying a secret million-dollar plus financial relationship, the court’s most right-wing justice failed to recuse himself from cases brought by conservative groups bankrolled by Crow.
The revelations have sparked widespread calls for tougher ethics rules for Supreme Court justices and more scattered calls for Thomas to resign or be impeached.
