U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas said on Friday that, in the future, he would begin to disclose some of what he described as “hospitality,” which came in the form of superyacht sojourns.
It’s Thomas’ first statement since ProPublica published a blockbuster investigation Thursday revealing how the right-wing justice received largesse from a heavy hitting Republican donor without disclosing them. The public remarks are exceedingly rare.
That included a 9-day yachting trip across the Indonesian archipelago, multiple trips to the donor’s private retreat in the Adirondacks, and trips on the companion’s private jet.
The donor, Harlan Crow, took a similar line to Thomas in his responses to ProPublica: they fall under an exception for “hospitality,” meaning that disclosure was not required. Thomas used the word “friend” four times in the first three sentences of his statement.
The Senate confirmed Thomas to replace retiring Justice Thurgood Marshall in 1991. In 2004, the LA Times published an investigation revealing that Harlan Crow had bestowed lavish gifts on Thomas, citing disclosures that he had made.
Thomas said in the statement however that he had received guidance early on 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.”
It’s not at all clear from the statement who provided the guidance, but per the LA Times, Thomas stopped reporting the Crow gifts after the paper’s 2004 story.
Thomas added that he would, going forward, follow new guidance issued by the federal judiciary.
Thomas’ full statement is below:
Harlan and Kathy Crow are among our dearest friends, and we have been friends for over twenty-five years. As friends do, we have joined them on a number of family trips during the more than quarter century we have known them. Early in my tenure at the 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. I have endeavored to follow that counsel throughout my tenure, and have sought to comply with the disclosure guidelines. These guidelines are now being changed, as the committee of the Judicial Conference responsible for financial disclosure for the entire federal judiciary just this past month announced new guidance. And, it is, of course, my intent to follow this guidance in the future.
