Justice Clarence Thomas took undisclosed trip aboard Harlan Crow's private jet in 2010, senator says
Washington — Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas did not disclose travel aboard a private jet provided by Republican megadonor Harlan Crow in 2010, the Democratic chairman of the Senate Finance Committee revealed in a letter Monday.
Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon said international flight records from U.S. Customs and Border Protection show that Thomas and his wife, Ginni, flew from Hawaii to New Zealand on Crow's private jet in November 2010 and returned on the plane a week later. The flight manifest shows Crow was also a passenger on the flights, Wyden told Michael Bopp, Crow's lawyer.
Thomas did not disclose the travel aboard the jet on his annual financial disclosure forms.
Wyden is demanding information from Crow not only about the November 2010 travel, but also about trips Thomas took on the Michaela Rose, Crow's yacht, and other financial records.
Michael Zona, a spokesman for Crow, said his lawyers have already addressed Wyden's inquiries, "which have no legal basis and are only intended to harass a private citizen." He accused the Democratic senator of abusing the Senate Finance Committee's powers to advance a "politically motivated campaign" targeting the Supreme Court.
"Mr. Crow and his businesses are in good standing with the IRS," he said. "He has always followed applicable tax law as advised by national accounting firms who serve as his tax advisors."
The statement referred Wyden to previous correspondence from Crow's lawyers. A request for comment from Thomas was not immediately returned.
Wyden's demand for more information from Crow is part of an investigation he launched into his relationship with Thomas and travel the justice has accepted from the wealthy benefactor. Thomas said last year that he and Crow have been friends for more than two decades, and the justice maintained that he had been advised he did not have to report the travel under disclosure guidelines.
He pledged to comply with new guidelines from the Judicial Conference, changed in March 2023, about personal hospitality.
Thomas included in his 2023 financial disclosure report trips aboard Crow's private jet and a stay at his property in the Adirondacks. He also included details about a 2014 real estate transaction with Crow, which had been uncovered by the investigative news outlet ProPublica last year.
In his latest disclosure report, made public in June, Thomas included an amendment to list two trips he took with Crow in 2019 to Bali and Monte Rio, California.
But Senate Democrats have said they still do not have a complete picture of the travel Thomas received from Crow. The Senate Judiciary Committee revealed in June that Thomas took three undisclosed trips aboard Crow's private jet, including to Kalispell, Montana, near Glacier National Park, in 2017; and roundtrip flights to Savannah, Georgia, in 2019 and San Jose, California, in 2021. Wyden told Crow's lawyer in his latest letter that he is still seeking to understand the "means and scale" of his client's "undisclosed largesse" to Thomas.
"I am deeply concerned that Mr. Crow may have been showering a public official with extravagant gifts, then writing off those gifts to lower his tax bill," he wrote. "This concern is only heightened by the committee's recent discovery of additional undisclosed international travel on Mr. Crow's private jet by Justice Thomas."
In addition to the private jet travel in 2010, Wyden said Thomas has not disclosed other trips, including aboard the Michaela Rose in Greece and New Zealand, which was reported by ProPublica last year. The senator said a relative of Thomas' witnessed the justice travel on the yacht in the Caribbean, Russia and the Baltics, trips that were not listed on his financial disclosure forms.
The Oregon Democrat said additional information is necessary to inform several bills his committee is working on, including reforms to the tax code, audit requirements for Supreme Court justices and ethics reform that would bolster disclosure rules for Supreme Court justices.
"This is not a particularly complicated matter," Wyden said. "Mr. Crow could easily clarify for the committee whether tax deductions were claimed on superyacht and private jet use by Justice Thomas, but he refuses to do so."
In the wake of revelations about Thomas' ties to Crow, congressional Democrats have called for reforms at the Supreme Court. President Biden last week offered three proposals, two of which would require legislation approved by Congress: 18-year term limits for justices and an enforceable, binding code of conduct.
White House spokesperson Andrew Bates said in response to the latest revelations by Wyden that they strengthen the president's case for making changes to the high court.
"Congress should pass an enforceable code of conduct for the Supreme Court, in line with the requirements that every other federal judge already follows," he said in a statement. "The most powerful court in the United States shouldn't be subject to the lowest ethical standards, and conflicts of interest on the Supreme Court cannot go unchecked."
In response to pressure from Democrats on Capitol Hill, the Supreme Court implemented its own ethics rules in November, but it does not include an enforcement mechanism.
