A top Senate Democrat is demanding that Texas billionaire and GOP megadonor Harlan Crow turn over documents and other information related to luxury trips he provided to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden, Oregon Democrat, sent Mr. Crow a list of dozens of questions regarding Justice Thomas’s use of his yacht and private jet, as well his purchase of Justice Thomas’s property in Savannah, Georgia, that he is renting out to the jurist’s mother for free.
“This unprecedented arrangement between a wealthy benefactor and a Supreme Court justice raises serious concerns related to federal tax and ethics laws,” Mr. Wyden wrote to Mr. Crow.
The letter demands Mr. Crow turn over the material by May 8.
A spokesman for Crow Holdings, Mr Crow’s real estate company, did not immediately return a request for a comment on the letter and demands for information.
Mr. Wyden is seeking details about every trip that Justice Thomas took aboard Mr. Crow’s private jet and 162-foot luxury yacht, including a breakdown of costs, as well as any gifts provided to Justice Thomas.
Mr. Wyden is also seeking details of real estate transactions involving three Georgia properties he purchased from Justice Thomas and his relatives.
Mr. Crow is a Republican donor and longtime friend of Clarence Thomas and his wife, Virginia Thomas.
Justice Thomas was a regular guest aboard Mr. Crow’s yacht and private jet and trips that Mr. Crow funded, included a luxury vacation to Indonesia that cost $500,000 according to a report in ProPublica.
Democrats have called for new disclosure laws and even for Justice Thomas’s resignation in the wake of the news reports about his relationship with Mr. Crow.
“Justice Thomas failed to properly disclose any of these gifts on his annual financial disclosure forms, potentially in violation of federal law,” Mr. Wyden said in the letter to Mr. Crow.
Justice Thomas said the trips with Mr. Crow were cleared by judicial advisers.
“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 a quarter century we have known them,” Justice Thomas said in a statement released by the Supreme Court. “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.
He said, “I have endeavored to follow that counsel throughout my tenure, and have always 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.”
In March, the Judicial Conference adopted new rules requiring federal judges — including Supreme Court justices — to disclose gifts and trips paid for by third parties. It’s a move to tighten disclosure requirements for the federal judiciary.
Justice Thomas plans to amend his financial disclosure forms to reflect a 2014 real estate deal made with Mr. Crow that includes the property where his 94-year-old mother now lives rent-free.
Mr. Wyden wrote to Mr. Crow that he may have violated the federal gift tax by not reporting to the IRS the luxury trips or accounting for the cost of the living arrangement for the justice’s mother.
Mr. Wyden said Justice Thomas’s use of the yacht and private jet, fully crewed, “would likely be well in excess of the annual gift tax exclusion,” which was $13,000 per recipient in 2011 and is $17,000 per recipient in 2023.
“The secrecy surrounding your dealings with Justice Thomas is simply unacceptable,” Mr. Wyden wrote to Mr. Crow. “The American public deserves a full accounting of the full extent of your largesse towards Justice Thomas, including whether these gifts complied with all relevant federal tax and ethics laws.”
In a lengthy statement provided to ProPublica, Mr. Crow defended his friendship with Justice Thomas and said the trips amounted to “hospitality,” similar to what they have provided other close friends.
“We have never asked about a pending or lower court case and Justice Thomas has never discussed one and we have never sought to influence Justice Thomas on any legal or political issue,” Mr. Crow said.
• Alex Swoyer contributed to this story.
• Susan Ferrechio can be reached at sferrechio@washingtontimes.com.
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