In an account that reads like an installment of “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous,” ProPublica recently reported that Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas accepted luxury trips over more than two decades from Harlan Crow, a Texas real estate developer and prominent Republican donor. Among the excursions was a 2019 vacation in which Thomas and his wife enjoyed “nine days of island-hopping” off Indonesia aboard a 162-foot yacht. Thomas didn’t report the trips on his annual financial disclosure forms.
On Monday, Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee wrote to Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. to demand that he investigate “how such conduct could take place at the court under your watch” and “take all needed action to prevent further misconduct.” The senators also promised to hold a hearing on ethical standards at the court.
Neither Congress nor the public should have had to depend on investigative journalists to learn of the hospitality bestowed upon Thomas by Crow. Fortunately, Thomas and his colleagues must now comply with new disclosure obligations under the 1978 Ethics in Government Act. Under guidance issued in January by the Judicial Conference of the United States, judges and justices must disclose when they travel on private jets or stay at private resorts that operate commercially or are owned by a business “entity” rather than an individual or family.
