US Supreme Court’s Clarence Thomas took more undisclosed travel funded by billionaire, senator says
WASHINGTON — U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas took additional undisclosed travel paid for by billionaire benefactor Harlan Crow that the conservative justice failed to disclose, the Democratic chair of the Senate Finance Committee said on Monday.
Thomas and his wife took round-trip air travel between Hawaii and New Zealand in November 2010 aboard Crow’s private jet, according to Senator Ron Wyden, citing international flight records obtained by his committee.
Thomas has come under criticism since last year from congressional Democrats and others for failing to disclose gifts from Crow, a Texas businessman and Republican donor, including trips on a yacht.
A Supreme Court spokesperson and an attorney for Thomas did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Monday.
The justice previously defended his omission of Crow-funded luxury trips from his disclosure forms by saying he believed they were “personal hospitality” and thus exempt from disclosure requirements, and called his nondisclosure of a real estate transaction involving Crow inadvertent.
Wyden cited the international flight records, maintained by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency, in an eight-page letter to Crow’s attorney seeking details on the businessman’s relationship with Thomas. It is part of what Wyden called his committee’s investigation “into the tax treatment of the use of Mr. Crow’s superyacht and private aircraft.”
Wyden first requested such information last year after the news outlet ProPublica reported on the justice’s failure to disclose luxury trips and real estate transactions involving Crow.
Crow spokesperson Michael Zona said that Crow’s attorneys had previously addressed Wyden’s inquiries.
