Clarence Thomas finally discloses 'food and lodging' he accepted from billionaire Harlan Crow in 2019: what Supreme Court justices revealed in their annual financial forms
- Thomas and other justices turned in their annual disclosure forms
- He amended 2019 report after gift acceptance was revealed
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas finally disclosed some of the pricey gifts he accepted from billionaire Harlan Crow that was first unearthed in an explosive report last year.
Thomas, who has come under criticism for failing to disclose gifts from the businessman, revised his 2019 form to acknowledge he accepted 'food and lodging' at a Bali hotel and the ultra exclusive Bohemian Grove club in California.
But the powerful conservative didn't disclose other gifts he reportedly accepted: travel aboard a luxury yacht and a private jet that were reportedly part of the excursions.
Thomas and other U.S. Supreme Court justices reported receiving gifts including Thomas' stay in a Bali hotel, tickets to a Beyoncé concert, as well as nearly $1.6 million in book advances and royalties in annual financial disclosure forms for 2023 released on Friday.
The uproar over Thomas led to a clash with Congress and a new voluntary code of conduct released by the high court that still allows justices to make their own determinations about what they may and may not accept.
ProPublica unearthed details of the lavish trips in a bombshell report last year.
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas updated his 2019 financial disclosure to reveal he accepted 'food and lodging' at a Bali hotel and the ultra exclusive Bohemian Grove club in California from billionaire Harlan Crow
In the latest filings, liberal Justice Kentaji Brown Jackson said she received four concert tickets from music superstar Beyoncé Knowles-Carter valued at $3,711.84.
And conservative Justice Samuel Alito, under fire for reports that flags associated with Donald Trump's attempts to overturn his 2020 election defeat, got a 90-day extension on his filing.
It was one of a series of extensions he has received.
Former Barack Obama auto task force head Steven Rattner blasted the new disclosure information, and posted a chart showing Thomas' disclosed and undisclosed gifts totaled $4 million. Rattner posted it was 5.6 times larger than the gifts of 16 other justices' gifts combined.
Thomas disclosed a stay at a California club; he attended the exclusive Bohemian Grove with Crowe
The hotel came on a trip to Bali
A bombshell report about Thomas accepting gifts from billionaire Harlan Crow led to a new voluntary code of conduct
The filings showed the justices' outside income, gifts and investment transactions last year. They are closely watched as the justices have faced increasing scrutiny over ethics following revelations that some of them failed to report luxury trips, including on private jets, and real estate transactions.
Thomas reported no trips in 2023 after disclosing trips to Dallas, Texas and New York's Adirondack Mountains in 2022. He cited security concerns after a leak of the court's 2022 decision to overturn the constitutional right to abortion to justify the need to travel privately.
The disclosures showed the lucrative nature of book publishing for members of the nation's highest judicial body. The advance for Jackson's memoir "Lovely One," set for release in September, was reported as $893,750.
In addition to the Beyoncé tickets, Jackson said she received artwork for her chambers worth $12,500.
Conservative Justice Brett Kavanaugh listed book "royalty income" from Javelin Group and Regnery Publishing for $340,000. News website Axios reported on Thursday that he is writing a memoir, expected to be published in 2025 or 2026. Conservative Justice Neil Gorsuch reported $250,000 in book royalties, as did liberal Justice Sonia Sotomayor for nearly $87,000.
The publishing proceeds supplement the justices' salaries. This year the eight associate justices will receive $298,500, with Chief Justice John Roberts getting $312,200.
Alito, a member of the court's 6-3 conservative majority, is embroiled in ethics controversy after refusing to recuse himself from two pending cases related to the 2020 election and the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Alito said the flags were flown at his homes by his wife and neither of them knew the flags were associated with Trump's "Stop the Steal" movement.
Under pressure from the drumbeat of criticism over ethical standards, the justices in November adopted their first code of conduct.
Critics and some congressional Democrats have said the ethics code does not go far enough to promote transparency, continuing to leave decisions to recuse from cases to the justices themselves and providing no mechanism of enforcement.
Democrats reiterated the need for legislation last month after Alito rejected their calls for recusal in the 2020 election cases.
