Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has updated five-year-old financial disclosure statements to now reveal two more luxurious trips funded by billionaire pal and conservative Republican donor Harlan Crow amid a storm of controversy over freebies Thomas has enjoyed while serving on the top court of the land.
Thomas' updated disclosure forms released Friday reveal that the real estate mogul paid for vacations for the justice and his wife, Virginia Thomas, in July 2019 to Bali, Indonesia, and a stay for Thomas at the exclusive all-male Bohemian Grove club in California, which the justice noted he had previously "inadvertently omitted."
Though he revealed the existence of the vacations, Thomas did not reveal the price of the stay in Bali or the three nights at Bohemian Grove. Nor did he divluge the transportation costs, which included a yacht trip, all of which was covered by Crow.
Pro Publica, which was the first to report last year that Thomas and his wife have been treated to a long string of free vacations by Crow, estimated that the Bali trip on Crow's private jet and island hopping via yacht could have cost $500,000.
Thomas has come under fire for accepting free vacations and other extravagant gifts from Crow for years without disclosing them, even though they could represent a conflict of interest with the public in the court cases he helps decide that could ultimately serve Crow or his associates.
Thomas has enjoyed $4 million in gifts since he has served on the court, which represents the lion's share of the total $4.8 million worth of gifts all the current justices have received, according to a tally by the judicial advocacy group Fix the Court.
Suspected gifts last year not yet confirmed could boost Thomas' total gift take to $5.9 million, reports Fix the Court.
Thomas and Crow have both denied any wrongdoing.
On other financial disclosure forms filed by the judges, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson reported receiving four concert tickets from Beyoncé Knowles-Carter with a value of $3,711.84.
In response to criticisms about ethics concerns as justices accept various freebies, the Supreme Court announced a new code of ethics late last year. But critics say it hardly goes far enough, and there are no consequences if justices ignore the code.
