Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas acknowledged a previously unreported overseas trip paid for by his friend, conservative businessman Harlan Crow.
One of the 2019 trips was to Bali, where the judge was accompanied by his wife, Virginia. Another trip paid for by Clowes was to Sonoma County, California.
Judge Thomas on Friday released an amended financial disclosure document for fiscal year 2023, required of all federal judges, to include past travel that was not disclosed in his 2019 filing.
“In preparing and submitting this report, the submitter sought and received guidance from its accountants and ethics advisors,” the filing said.
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“Consistent with the review of previous filings that filers began last year, the 2019 calendar year return will be amended to include the following entries in the refund section that were erroneously omitted at the time of filing:
- Source: Harlan & Kathy Crow Date: July 12, 2019 Location: Bali, Indonesia Purpose: Guests of source Paid for or provided with: Hotel meals and lodging
- Source: Harlan Crow, Date: July 18-21, 2019, Location: Monte Rio, California, Purpose: Guest of source, Items paid for or provided: Meals and lodging at private club.
Thomas’s vacation was first recorded in April 2023. At the time, he issued a rare statement defending his trip and explaining that he had always followed Supreme Court guidelines.
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“Harlan and Kathy Crow are some of our closest friends and we have been friends for more than 25 years,” the judge, who served on the bench for 32 years, said in a statement at the time.
“As friends, we have accompanied them on many family trips over the 25 years we have known them. Early in my term on the Supreme Court, I sought the advice of my colleagues and judicial colleagues and was advised that such personal hospitality from close friends who had no business before the Supreme Court did not need to be reported,” Thomas said.
“I’ve tried to follow that advice throughout my tenure and have always tried to follow the disclosure guidelines,” he said. “Those guidelines have now changed because the Judicial Conference committee responsible for financial disclosure across the federal courts issued new guidelines last month, and, of course, I intend to continue to follow those guidelines.”
The financial reports of the other seven justices were released on Friday. Only Justice Samuel Alito did not release his report, but was granted a 90-day delay.
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The Supreme Court released a new “code of conduct” in November after months of intense scrutiny from Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee who sought new ethics laws for the Supreme Court.
The code is made up of five “codes,” including two new codes that appear to address reports that Justices Thomas and Samuel Alito have arranged private travel at the expense of others and used court staff to promote their books. The promotion refers to recent reports that Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s staff urged universities and libraries to purchase her latest book.
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“Judges may not substantially use judicial office, resources, or personnel to engage in activities that do not substantially support official duties or other activities permitted by these Codes,” it states.
“Judges may receive reasonable compensation and reimbursement of expenses for permitted activities if the source of the payment does not affect the judge’s official duties or appear to be improper,” the rules state.
“Reimbursement of expenses shall be limited to the actual or reasonably estimated costs of travel, meals and lodging incurred by the judge and, as the circumstances require, the judge’s spouse or relatives,” the new rule states.
The code also states, “For the time being, all judges have agreed to comply with the laws governing financial disclosure, and each judge of the undersigned court individually reaffirms that commitment.”
