The Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday revealed new trips and flights that Justice Clarence Thomas took on Republican billionaire Harlan Crow’s dime — including some that Thomas has not previously disclosed.
The documentation is the result of a November subpoena issued to Crow by the panel’s Democrats and includes three private jet trips that Crow provided for Thomas.
The most recent unreported private jet travel was in June 2021 when Crow flew Thomas between Washington D.C. and San Jose, Calif. Other private jet trips occurred in May 2017 between St. Louis, Mo., Kalispell, Mont. and Dallas Texas and March 2019 flights between Washington D.C. and Savannah, Ga.
The documentation also includes travel that Thomas disclosed in records that were made public last week, including private jet and yacht travel for a July 2019 trip to Indonesia.
“As a result of our investigation and subpoena authorization, we are providing the American public greater clarity on the extent of ethical lapses by Supreme Court justices and the need for ethics reform,” said Judiciary Committee Chair Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) in a statement.
Crow said Thursday that he reached a deal with the Senate Judiciary Committee, with Democrats on the committee agreeing to close the case against him if Crow provided seven years worth of information related to his connections to Supreme Court justices. Thomas justice has faced criticism for accepting lavish trips from Crow without proper disclosures. Thomas has referred to Crow as a longtime close personal friend.
“Despite his serious and continued concerns about the legality and necessity of the inquiry, Mr. Crow engaged in good faith negotiations with the Committee from the beginning to resolve the matter. As a condition of this agreement, the Committee agreed to end its probe with respect to Mr. Crow,” Crow’s office said in a statement.
The deal follows two years of intense scrutiny of both Crow specifically and the Supreme Court’s ethics practices generally. Democrats in Congress, ethics experts and court reform advocates have cited reporting on Crow as they put a spotlight on the financial and personal ties of Thomas and other the justices. They have also heavily scrutinized Justice Samuel Alito and the controversy surrounding an upside-down flag flown at one of his residences.
