Additional undisclosed visits were made by Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas GOP megadonor which was not included in its composition financial disclosure formsAccording to documents released Thursday by the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., chairs the Judiciary Committee. released the notes About gifts of private jet travel, including flights in 2017, 2019 and 2021, by Harlan Crow, a billionaire friend of Thomas.
“Through our investigation and subpoena, we are providing greater clarity to the American public about the extent of ethical violations by Supreme Court justices and the need for ethics reform,” Durbin said. etcas it helpsdefinition.
The documents were released a day after the Republicans blocked the attempt of the Democrats Adopting the Supreme Court ethics legislation that the committee proposed nearly a year ago.
In a statement Thursday, Crow’s office said it had reached an agreement with the Judiciary Committee to provide information dating back seven years.
“Despite his serious and continuing concerns about the legality and necessity of the investigation, Mr. Crow dealt with the Committee in good faith,” his office said. “As a condition of this settlement, the Committee has agreed to discontinue its investigation of Mr. Crow.”
Durbin’s spokeswoman told NBC News that the committee “has reached an agreement with Mr. Crow for information and materials sufficient to comply with the Committee’s request and subpoena.”
Thomas’ attorney defended his disclosure practices.
“Harlan Crow’s submission to the Senate Judiciary Committee relates to the ‘personal hospitality exemption’ and is not required to be disclosed by Justice Thomas,” attorney Elliot S. Berke said in a statement Thursday, adding that the Judicial Conference — the administrative office of the U.S. courts — ” changed that provision last year, and Justice Thomas fully complied with the new disclosure requirement.”
Thomas last week received a couple of visits In the 2019 annual financial disclosure report corresponding to visits with Crow This was reported by ProPublica last year.
Berke’s answer echoed Thomas’s. statement last year called the undisclosed trip not work but “personal hospitality from close personal friends.”
Democrats on the Judiciary Committee on Thursday cited a law detailing financial disclosure requirements for federal employees, arguing that the law requires disclosure of travel, saying “meals, lodging or entertainment that is treated as an individual’s personal hospitality need not be reported.” They said they plan to publish a report this summer on their investigation into Supreme Court ethics.
A Supreme Court spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday about the travel records released by the committee.