U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas went on at least 38 secret luxury vacations paid for by super-rich Republican mega donors, a new report revealed Thursday.
The conservative judge went on a high-end cruise through the Bahamas, enjoyed luxe stays at resorts in Jamaica and Florida, and took at least 26 private jet trips, none of which were mentioned on mandatory annual disclosure forms, according to ProPublica.
The new bombshell report suggests Thomas benefitted to the tune of more than $1 million from the largesse of billionaires including ex-Berkshire Hathaway executive David Sokol, Wast Management founder and oil baron Paul Novelly.
“These are not merely ethical lapses,” said Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Illinois), chair of the Judiciary Committee. “This is a shameless lifestyle underwritten for years by a gaggle of fawning billionaires.”
Thomas also scored more freebie junkets courtesy of Harlan Crow, a Dallas real estate mogul and right-wing mega donor, the new report said.
Crow had previously admitted giving Thomas an all expenses-paid cruise through Indonesia, an annual luxury retreat in the Adirondacks and other trips. He also bought the Georgia home where Thomas’ elderly mother still lives rent free.
The months of revelations about Thomas, along with reports of less brazen lapses by other justices, have spurred new calls for tightened ethics rules for the Supreme Court, whose justices can serve for a lifetime.
Thomas declined to comment in the latest ProPublica article. He previously told the outlet that the “personal hospitality from close personal friends, who did not have business before the Court, was not reportable.”
Along with new disclosure rules and guidelines for enforcement, critics want clearer rules and oversight for when Supreme Court justices should recuse themselves from cases.
Thomas failed to recuse himself from any cases involving the 2020 election despite the prominent role of his wife, Ginni Thomas, in former President Trump’s effort to overturn his election loss.
He was the sole justice to oppose an 8-1 ruling that ordered the release of messages including many from Ginni Thomas to the congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6. attack.
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