Things Are About To Get Ugly For Clarence Thomas

Since the conservative Supreme Court majority refuses to do anything about the ethical crisis on the court, the Senate Judiciary Committee majority is zeroing in on Harlan Crow.

The Senate Judiciary Committee Makes A New Move On Clarence Thomas

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In a series of letters sent to Harlan Crow and his companies, the 11 Senate Democrats on the Judiciary Committee demanded that Crow provide an itemized list of all of his gifts to Justice Thomas.

Here is one of the letters:

Recent investigative reporting has identified multiple instances in which you or entities you own or control have made payments, purchased real estate, or provided gifts, travel, or other items of value to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and members of his family. Many of these gifts, transactions, and items of value had not been previously disclosed by Justice Thomas, in apparent contravention of the Supreme Court’s April 25, 2023 “Statement on Ethics Principles and Practices” which claimed that Justices since 1991 “have followed” the financial disclosure requirements provided in the Judicial Conference Regulations, and other applicable obligations.

You have issued several public statements acknowledging these items of value that you have given to Justice Thomas and his family members.

As part of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s ongoing efforts to craft legislation strengthening the ethical rules and standards that apply to the Justices of the Supreme Court, we request that you provide the Committee with certain information by May 22, 2023. This information will help identify specific shortcomings in the “Statement on Ethics Principles and Practices,” as well as current law, that legislation needs to address.

Please provide the following information:

1. An itemized list of all gifts, payments, and items of value exceeding $415 given by you, or by entities you own or control or for which you have served as a partner, director, or officer, to any Justice of the Supreme Court or a member of the Justice’s family, including the name of the Justice, the approximate dollar amount of each item, and the date it was extended.

2. An itemized list of all real estate transactions in which you, or any entity you own or control or for which you have served as a partner, director, or officer, conducted with a Justice of the Supreme Court or a member of the Justice’s family, including the name of the Justice, the date of the transaction, the valuations of the properties, the dollar amount conveyed in the transaction, any occupancy agreements reached regarding the real estate, and the dollar value of any improvements made or taxes paid on the properties during the course of any occupancy agreement.

3. An itemized list of all transportation or lodging provided by you, or any entity you own or control or for which you have served as a partner, director, or officer, to a Justice of the Supreme Court or a member of the Justice’s family, including the name of the Justice, the date the transportation was provided, the mode of transportation provided, the itinerary traveled, any lodging provided, and the approximate dollar value of the transportation or lodging.

4. An itemized list of the occasions on which any property or facility owned by any entity you own or control or for which you have served as a partner, director, or officer, provided lodging to a Justice of the Supreme Court or a member of the Justice’s family, including the name of the relevant Justice, the location of the lodging, the date the lodging was provided, and the approximate dollar value of the lodging.

5. An itemized list of all occasions when entrance to any private, members-only club was provided by you, or entities you own or control or for which you have served as a partner, director, or officer, to any Justice of the Supreme Court or a member of the Justice’s family, including the name of the Justice, the dates of those visits, and the full names of any other guests who were also provided entrance by you, or entities you own or control or for which you have served as a partner, director, or officer.

If Thomas did nothing wrong, and these were just trips and gifts among friends, Crow should have no issues with giving the committee the information that it is asking for.

The letter acknowledges that the Senate is trying to put together ethics legislation governing the Supreme Court and that the senators aren’t just looking at Thomas. They are seeking information on gifts that Crow may have given to all Supreme Court justices.

As we will dive into below, this is a scandal that could get very ugly very quickly for Clarence Thomas and other members of the conservative Supreme Court majority.