Clarence Thomas Financial Disclosures Raise Eyebrows

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas' 2022 financial disclosures have caught the attention of critics who have questioned whether his failure to properly disclose luxury trips and gifts from wealthy friends in the past undercut the court's ethics laws.

Thomas's disclosures were released on Thursday and showed that the justice received four reimbursements from Republican mega-donor Harlan Crow. Once again, Thomas said he had no reportable gifts.

The annual report, which had initially been due in May, comes as Thomas faces ongoing pushback and calls for his resignation over multiple reports that say he accepted luxury trips and private school tuition for his relatives from Crow, which he failed to disclose.

Other reports said the justice sold real estate to Crow and that he also purchased a private vehicle with money from Anthony Welters, a former United Healthcare executive and close friend of Thomas, which the judge did not disclose even though the money would have been classified as a gift.

Thomas had received an extension to file his 2022 disclosures.

The four reimbursements from Crow were for transportation, meals and lodging at four different 2022 events that Thomas participated in at venues in Dallas, Texas, where he appeared twice, Salt Lake City, Utah, and Keese Mill, New York.

The disclosures reveal that Thomas flew private during both the events in Dallas, on his return trip in February because of an "unexpected ice storm" and during his May trip due to an "increased security risk."

"Because of the increased security risk following the Dobbs opinion leak, the May flights were by private plane for official travel as filer's security detail recommended noncommercial travel whenever possible," the filing read.

Occupy Democrats, a Democratic political organization, blasted Thomas for the disclosure on X, formerly Twitter, casting doubt about the security concerns and instead, suggesting that the justice flew private "because he's grown used to living like an oligarch."

"Thomas still denies that he did anything wrong by accepting such expensive gifts from a partisan operative, demonstrating just how little he thinks of the American people. He thinks we will buy his BS story," Occupy Democrats wrote. "Two trips were to Dallas and the third was to a private lakeside resort in the Adirondacks in New York. Doesn't that sound relaxing?"

"At this point, the corruption is undeniable. Clarence Thomas has made a deal with the devil. In return for helping turn America into a Christian fascist nightmare, he gets to live like a king," the group added. "It's time to impeach him."

Thomas' attorney, Elliot Burke hit back at the criticisms against his client, saying that the complaints come from those who are "diametrically opposed to [Thomas'] judicial philosophy" and that the attacks "set a terrible precedent for political blood sport through federal ethics filings."

"The financial disclosure process should never be weaponized against any Justice simply because any organization or anyone disagrees with the way a Justice thinks, writes, or votes," Burke said, adding that, "No Justice, Justice Thomas included, should be subjected to such political blood sport.

"The ethics wars need to stop: They are not only unfair to our government officials, but also undermine public confidence in our republic," he said in a statement.

In Thursday's filing, Thomas also addressed the homes in Savannah, Georgia, that are owned by himself, his mother, and the family of his deceased brother, which were bought by one of Crow's companies in 2014. The sale was not disclosed by Thomas at the time that it was reported by ProPublica in April.

"Although outside the covered period, filer provides the following supplemental information regarding the 2014 disposition of certain real estate interests he held with members of his family in Savannah, Georgia," the disclosure released Thursday read. "In 1984, filer inherited a 1/3 interest in three properties: his mother's residence and two additional houses on the same street."

"In 2014, Mr. Harlan Crow, a longtime friend of filer and his wife, bought all three properties for $133,000, along with other houses/lots on the same street," it continued. "Filer and his wife had put between $50,000 to $75,000 into his mother's home in capital improvements over the years, and therefore, the transaction amounted to a capital loss."

The disclosure said that Thomas had previously reported his interest in two of the three properties when rental income was being generated, but that when the rental income stopped, the justice was advised to remove them from his forms.

"However, filer inadvertently failed to realize that the 'sales transaction' for the final disposition of the three properties triggered a new reportable transaction in 2014, even though this sale resulted in a capital loss," the disclosure said.