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Hi,
Another stunning bombshell report has broken exposing jaw-dropping corruption at the U.S. Supreme Court.
For over two decades, Justice Clarence Thomas has secretly accepted luxury vacations from Republican megadonor Harlan Crow — from superyacht tours around the globe to annual stays at an exclusive resort in the Adirondacks.1
These lavish trips have no precedent in modern Supreme Court history. And since 1997, Thomas hasn’t disclosed a penny of them — breaking not just ethical norms but likely also the law.
This is outrageous, flagrant corruption. We’ve mobilized more than 200,000 people to ask Congress to pass the Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal, and Transparency Act, which would require the nation’s highest court to follow basic rules of disclosure and recusal. Now, in the wake of these stunning new revelations about Thomas, we must demand action now.
In 2004, the Los Angeles Times revealed how Thomas reported receiving far more gifts than any of his fellow justices, including a flight on Crow’s private plane to an exclusive all-male resort.
But rather than reject offers of future trips from Crow, Thomas simply stopped reporting them.2
Thomas almost certainly broke the law by hiding these vacations. But he’s not the only justice under scrutiny.
Recent reports show corporations have also funneled huge donations into a nonprofit connected to the court to try to curry favor with the justices.3 High-powered D.C. law firms paid Jane Roberts, the wife of Chief Justice John Roberts, millions of dollars in commissions for her work as legal recruiter.4 The list goes on.
There are no rules regarding when Supreme Court justices must recuse themselves or even reveal potential conflicts of interest in instances like these.5 Despite promising to “seriously study” the issue, the justices recently refused to adopt a code of ethics.6
The Senate must hold a hearing to investigate Justice Clarence Thomas. And no one on the court can be trusted to police themselves.
That’s why we need to double down on Congress to demand action.
Sources:
1. ProPublica, "Clarence Thomas and the Billionaire," April 7, 2023.
2. Los Angeles Times, "Los Angeles Times reported about Justice Thomas’ gifts 20 years ago. After that he stopped disclosing them," April 6, 2023.
3. The New York Times, "A Charity Tied to the Supreme Court Offers Donors Access to the Justices," January 1, 2023.
4. The New York Times, "At the Supreme Court, Ethics Questions Over a Spouse’s Business Ties," January 31, 2023.
5. Brennan Center for Justice, "Brennan Center Urges Supreme Court Justices to Adopt a Code of Ethics," September 24, 2019.
6. The Washington Post, "Supreme Court justices discussed, but did not agree on, code of conduct," February 9, 2023.
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