Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, a conservative figurehead, has come under fire for allegedly concealing questionable real estate profits and accepting extravagant vacations provided by a billionaire Republican donor, according to critics.
The 74-year-old judge, appointed to the nation's highest court in 1991 by President George H.W. Bush, reportedly earned $133,363 in 2014 from selling a partial interest in three Savannah, Georgia lots to one of real estate tycoon Harlan Crow's companies. Public records indicate that nearby properties sold for significantly less the previous year.
Additionally, Thomas' mother resides on one of the lots in a home that underwent extensive renovations funded by Crow. Despite personally signing the bill of sale for his interests, Thomas did not report the transaction to the government on a federal disclosure form. Supreme Court justices are required to report all real estate deals over $1,000 and most gifts, according to a post-Watergate regulation.
Thomas also did not disclose any of the luxury vacations he and his wife Ginni, who has been linked to the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot, took at Crow's expense over two decades. These vacations included annual week-long stays at Crow's private Adirondack Mountains resort and a nine-day trip to Indonesia in 2019 aboard Crow's private jet and 162-foot superyacht, which would have cost over $500,000 if Thomas had paid for it himself.
Thomas claims he was "advised that this sort of personal hospitality from a close personal friend, who did not have business before the Court, was not reportable!"
Crow maintains that he purchased the Georgia properties, which included Thomas' childhood home, at market value with the intent to create a museum dedicated to the second Black Supreme Court justice.
However, ethics experts and some U.S. judges have condemned Thomas' close relationship with Crow, calling it influence peddling and even illegal. Retired federal judge Nancy Gertner describes Thomas' connection with Crow as "incomprehensible."
Virginia Canter, a former government ethics lawyer now with the watchdog group CREW, questions whether the deal was an attempt to put money in the Thomases' pockets.
This is not the first time Thomas has been accused of misreporting or omitting income on financial disclosure forms. Recently, he reported up to $100,000 annually in rental fees from Nebraska-based Ginger, Ltd., a real estate company founded by Ginni and her family that closed in 2006 after transferring its assets to another company.
Thomas also failed to disclose nearly $700,000 that Ginni earned from the conservative Heritage Foundation between 2003 and 2007, as well as income from speaking engagements at two law schools.
These revelations have led to calls for Thomas' resignation or impeachment from former conservative supporters, even though he updated his financial disclosures after the omissions were discovered.
"Thomas was always a feather in the cap for the far right because he gave them the opportunity to crow about inclusivity," says an insider. "But this kind of impropriety has them running for the hills."
Former Republican Rep. Denver Riggleman of Virginia argues, "Thomas should not be allowed anywhere near a judicial decision."
Ex-House Republican Adam Kinzinger states that the judge's actions "cannot be acceptable."