On Friday U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas defended luxury trips he took over several decades, which were funded by real estate magnate and Republican donor Harlan Crow, Reuters reports.
This comes after a report by ProPublica on Thursday highlighted that the veteran justice had accepted expensive trips from Crow despite federal law requiring the disclosure of most gifts, prompting Senate Democrats to call for an investigation.
In a statement released on Friday, Thomas explained that he had sought guidance early in his tenure at the Supreme Court and had been advised that “personal hospitality” from close friends, who did not have business before the court, was not reportable under federal rules.
“Early in my tenure at the (Supreme) Court, I sought guidance from my colleagues and others in the judiciary, and was advised that this sort of personal hospitality from close personal friends, who did not have business before the Court, was not reportable,” he said.
Thomas also said that he has always sought to comply with disclosure guidelines.
“It is, of course, my intent to follow this guidance in the future,” he said, referring to new guidelines from the Judicial Conference responsible for financial disclosure requirements for the entire federal judiciary.
Under new regulations adopted at the urging of lawmakers and judicial transparency advocates, U.S. Supreme Court justices and federal judges must make public more details about any free trips, meals, or gifts they receive, Reuters notes.
In his statement, Thomas said that he and his wife, Virginia “Ginni” Thomas, had long counted Harlan and Kathy Crow among close friends and that they had “joined them on a number of family trips during the more than quarter century we have known them.”
Crow said he had “never sought to influence Justice Thomas on any legal or political issue,” in a statement to ProPublica.
