CNN —
The lifestyle Justice Clarence Thomas has enjoyed over the last three decades bankrolled by gifts and hospitality from his wealthy friends is more extensive than previously known, according to a new ProPublica report, and has included numerous flights on private planes, skybox tickets to sporting events, stays at luxury resorts, and a standing invitation to play at a high-end private golf club in Florida.
The new report is the broadest look yet at how Thomas’ social circle has funded – with limited disclosure to the public – a regular stream of extravagant excursions and events since he became a Supreme Court justice. These costly trips and travel perks often went unreported on the justice’s financial disclosure forms, ProPublica said in its investigation.
Thomas is already under intense scrutiny for gifts he received from Harlan Crow, a GOP megadonor who treated Thomas and his wife to extravagant vacations, paid for the tuition of a Thomas family member and entered into an unusual real estate transaction related to the home of Thomas’ mother. In April, Thomas released a statement defending his friendship with Crow. “As friends do, we have joined them on a number of family trips during the more than quarter century we have known them,” Thomas wrote.
The latest investigation unearths a pattern of gifts to Thomas from Crow and three other billionaires who have been major contributors to Republican causes: David Sokol, the former heir apparent of Berkshire Hathaway; the late H. Wayne Huizenga, who made his vast fortune in his ownership of Blockbuster, Waste Management Inc. and other major companies; and Paul “Tony” Novelly, who formerly owned an oil company.
In this 2012 photo, H. Wayne Huizenga stands on the field before an NFL football game between the Miami Dolphins and New York Jets in Miami. Lynne Sladky/AP
ProPublica interviewed more than 100 people, including staff that would have worked some of the trips that Thomas took. It also reviewed records obtained from the US Marshals Service, tax court filings, and personal photographs.
Thomas did not respond to ProPublica’s detailed list of questions for its report, nor did Novelly. Huizenga died in 2018, and his son, who leads the family business, also did not respond to ProPublica’s inquiries.
In this 2010 photo, David Sokol speaks to shareholders on the exhibition floor prior to the Berkshire Hathaway Inc. annual meeting in Omaha, Nebraska. Daniel Acker/Bloomberg/Getty Images
Sokol acknowledged in a statement to ProPublica that he hosted the Thomases. “We have never once discussed any pending court matter,” Sokol said. “Our conversations have always revolved around helping young people, sports, and family matters.”
“As to the use of private aviation,” he added, “I believe that given security concerns all of the Supreme Court justices should either fly privately or on governmental aircraft.”
Both the lack of transparency about his financial relationships with Republican megadonors, and the jet-setting lifestyle he’s enjoyed because of those friendships, put Thomas out of step with how lower court judges and other government officials approach their ethical obligations, legal experts told ProPublica.
While several other Supreme Court justices have been accused of bending or breaking ethical rules when it comes to accepting and disclosing gifts, ProPublica’s reporting shows that Thomas especially has operated under a different set of ethical norms than federal judges on lower courts – and even the courts’ counterparts serving in other branches of government, which are covered by the same financial disclosure law that applies to the judiciary.
Paul Anthony
Justice Clarence Thomas enjoyed more vacations, private flights and perks thanks to wealthy friends, new ProPublica report details
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