Hi Reader,
Last year, ProPublica’s Supreme Court investigations sparked discussions and outrage all over the country. Our first bombshell story detailing Justice Clarence Thomas’ decadeslong relationship with Republican megadonor Harlan Crow was just the first of many stories we investigated and published, revealing a deeper understanding of the behavior of some of our nation’s most powerful judges. ProPublica and other news outlets have since revealed a deep history of undisclosed gifts to Thomas by a set of billionaire benefactors and a luxury fishing trip to Alaska provided to Justice Samuel Alito by wealthy political donors, one of whom had cases before the court.
This series won the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service just last month, for what the award judges described as “groundbreaking and ambitious reporting that pierced the thick wall of secrecy surrounding the Supreme Court to reveal how a small group of politically influential billionaires wooed justices with lavish gifts and travel, pushing the Court to adopt its first code of conduct.”
But the most important measure of our work is always impact. We’ve seen it here, too. Late last year, for the first time in its 235-year history, the Supreme Court released a code of conduct governing the behavior of the country’s most powerful judges. How the code will be enforced remains to be seen, but the magnitude of this step should not be understated.
And just last week, Thomas acknowledged for the first time in a new financial disclosure filing that he should have publicly reported two free vacations he received from billionaire Harlan Crow.
The pair of 2019 trips, one to Indonesia and the other to the Bohemian Grove, an all-male retreat in northern California, were first revealed by ProPublica. Last year, Thomas argued that he did not need to disclose such gifts. “Justice Thomas’s critics allege that he failed to report gifts from wealthy friends,” his lawyer previously said in a statement issued on the justice’s behalf. “Untrue.”
In the new filing released Friday, however, Thomas amended his financial disclosure for 2019, writing that he “inadvertently omitted” the trips on his previous reports.
Impact like this is at the heart of ProPublica’s mission to use the moral force of investigative journalism to spur real-world change.
Our reporters have the freedom and resources to pursue investigations into people at the highest levels of power in our government because we’re a nonprofit, independent newsroom. We are funded through philanthropic donations from individuals, foundations and more. In the last year, over 50,000 individuals have donated to ProPublica.
Our summer member drive is over Friday, and we’re nearing our goal of 4,000 donors. Help us continue this urgent work investigating our country’s most powerful people. Join ProPublica today with your donation of any amount and help ensure that we can continue to produce the kind of well-researched journalism that spurs impact just like this.
Thanks so much,
Jill Shepherd
Proud ProPublican
