Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas was hit with new financial disclosure allegations as reports Monday said he plans to resubmit previous forms that omitted property sales to a GOP mega donor.
In the latest ethics blow for the conservative jurist, Thomas reportedly has claimed that he was paid between $50,000 and $100,000 annually by a Nebraska real estate company set up by his controversial wife, Ginni Thomas.
But the company went out of business in 2006, the Washington Post reported. It was replaced by a new company that took over its land-leasing business, but Clarence Thomas continued to report income from the previous company.
The new allegation came as Thomas reportedly has told associates he will file amended disclosure forms to cover blockbuster revelations in recent days about his financial ties to billionaire Republican mega donor Harlan Crow, CNN reported Monday.
Thomas failed to report sales of three properties, including his elderly mother’s home in Savannah, Ga., to Crow a decade ago. As previously revealed, the judge also failed to report that Crow paid for the Thomases’ lavish vacations, including a $500,000 private plane-and-yacht junket to Indonesia.
Crow, a Texas real estate magnate, denounced the reports Monday as “a political hit job” in an interview with the Dallas Morning News.
Thomas last put out a rare statement claiming he had been told the vacations were mere “personal hospitality” that did not need to be reported to the IRS.
He has not responded to reports about the property sales. Federal law require judges and other officials to disclose all property sales except for homes that they live in.
Congressional Democrats have demanded investigations into the allegations against Thomas, whom they portray as a serial violator of ethics rules.
“There is at least reasonable cause to believe that Justice Thomas intentionally disregarded the disclosure requirement to report the sale of his interest in the Savannah properties in an attempt to hide the extent of his financial relationship with Crow,” Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., and Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Ga., said in a joint statement.
They want Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts to launch an investigation and have asked Attorney General Merrick Garland to look into whether Thomas violated federal ethics laws.
The lapses have shined a spotlight on the virtually nonexistent oversight of Supreme Court justices, who mostly are left to police their own behavior.
Aside from his disclosure failings, Thomas has refused to recuse himself from cases related to the 2020 election even though his wife is a prominent ally of former President Donald Trump who pushed for him to overturn President Joe Biden’s win.
He was the lone dissenter in an 8-1 decision that forced the handover to the congressional Jan. 6 committee of emails and text messages about the insurrection effort from Trump allies, including several from Ginni Thomas.
