WASHINGTON — Harlan Crow, the conservative billionaire who bestowed luxurious trips and private real estate deals on Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and his family, is signaling a will to do what auto-industry chieftains and Wall Street titans dared not: defy a Senate subpoena.
A subpoena hasn’t yet been issued, but the developing clash is setting up a test of a politically polarized Senate’s ability to wield one of its most powerful investigative tools. And it’s further evidence of the limits of Congress’ ability to pry loose information.
Crow’s emerging stance echoes the refusal of several allies of Donald Trump to provide telephone records and other information to the House panel investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the US Capitol. Those subpoenas prompted more than a dozen court fights and ultimately were withdrawn in the weeks before the committee’s final public meeting.
