# Clarence Thomas secretly accepted luxury vacations from GOP donor without disclosing **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [April 6, 2023, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clarence-thomas-secretly-accepted-luxury-vacations-from-gop-donor-without-disclosing/982252 "2023-04-06T14:10:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2023, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clarence-thomas-secretly-accepted-luxury-vacations-from-gop-donor-without-disclosing/982252/201 "2023-04-30T00:17:35Z")
> [@flurb](#): > > Court reform is being painted by Republicans as a liberal plot against Clarence Thomas and other conservative judges in order to overturn the work Trump did to stack the judiciary. Trump barely had anything to do with stacking the judiciary. Mitch McConnell dragged his feet for years when it came to approving Obama’s judicial nominees, leaving hundreds of seats at various levels vacant by the time Trump was inaugurated. All Trump did was nominate judges off the list of Federalist Society members that was handed to him. McConnell’s the one who did all the work. ---
**Author:** ![Mallard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Mallard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mallard)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2023, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clarence-thomas-secretly-accepted-luxury-vacations-from-gop-donor-without-disclosing/982252/202 "2023-05-01T02:43:55Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > I agree. Yes, judicial independence is important, but so too are measures to show that the judges are independent from litigants and not on the take. Kind of makes SC judges getting into drunken brawls rather small potatoes. 🫢 ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2023, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clarence-thomas-secretly-accepted-luxury-vacations-from-gop-donor-without-disclosing/982252/203 "2023-05-01T02:55:49Z")
As long as no-one’s putting money on the outcome ! ---
**Author:** ![Mallard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Mallard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mallard)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2023, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clarence-thomas-secretly-accepted-luxury-vacations-from-gop-donor-without-disclosing/982252/204 "2023-05-01T03:15:38Z")
🤣 ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2023, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clarence-thomas-secretly-accepted-luxury-vacations-from-gop-donor-without-disclosing/982252/205 "2023-05-01T04:26:41Z")
And to add: > **[Rage-filled Samuel Alito Baffled His Fairness Is Being Questioned](https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2023/04/rage-filled-samuel-alito-baffled-his-fairness-is-questioned.html)** > > You must respect my authority, justice insists. Boggles the mind. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2023, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clarence-thomas-secretly-accepted-luxury-vacations-from-gop-donor-without-disclosing/982252/206 "2023-05-01T07:31:31Z")
And it just keeps going. At this point I think I should start a new thread (not sure). I think there is more here than I can quote: > **[$30k and a cushy Italian trip from a clout-chasing law school? "Fantastico!"...](https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2023/04/gorsuch-scalia-law-school-corruption-supreme-court/)** > > Latest Supreme Court corruption news: Court conservatives took easy money from a law school. ---
**Author:** ![Chad\_Sudan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chad_sudan/32/4509_2.png) [@Chad\_Sudan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chad_Sudan)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2023, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clarence-thomas-secretly-accepted-luxury-vacations-from-gop-donor-without-disclosing/982252/207 "2023-05-01T08:11:43Z")
When Justice Alito can get away with giving the aforementioned [petulant, grievance-filled interview](https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2023/04/rage-filled-samuel-alito-baffled-his-fairness-is-questioned.html)… I would love to understand why none of the liberal justices can step forward and say – even in the most diplomatic way – “Yes, I can see why there is a problem with Supreme Court justices taking gifts.” Is circling the wagons really the justices’ highest priority? Because in this case, doing so is the opposite of protecting the institution. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2023, 8:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clarence-thomas-secretly-accepted-luxury-vacations-from-gop-donor-without-disclosing/982252/208 "2023-05-01T08:14:58Z")
> [@Chad\_Sudan](#): > > I would love to understand why none of the liberal justices can step forward and say – even in the most diplomatic way – “Yes, I can see why there is a problem with Supreme Court justices taking gifts.” I am guessing the liberal justices don’t want scrutiny either. More paperwork and fuss. And who knows, maybe they will get a junket. They should all get a bite at the apple…right? And, I am just guessing here, I think Supreme Court justices get a bit of infallibility on their minds. THEY can’t be wrong! How dare anyone suggest they are fallible! In reality they are just lawyers and most (all?) are not noted for their jurisprudence. They were all put there to be a reliable rubber stamp. ---
**Author:** ![Chad\_Sudan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chad_sudan/32/4509_2.png) [@Chad\_Sudan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chad_Sudan)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2023, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clarence-thomas-secretly-accepted-luxury-vacations-from-gop-donor-without-disclosing/982252/209 "2023-05-01T08:17:09Z")
“Supreme Court Upholds Corruption 9-0” ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2023, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clarence-thomas-secretly-accepted-luxury-vacations-from-gop-donor-without-disclosing/982252/210 "2023-05-02T01:01:30Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > And it just keeps going. At this point I think I should start a new thread (not sure) I don’t think I saw it in this thread: Neil Gorsuch was finally able to sell a big plot of land about a week after he became a Justice. The buyer? One of the principals of Greenberg Traurig, a nationally preeminent law firm with dozens of cases before the court. > [@](#): > > On April 16 of 2017, Greenberg’s Brian Duffy put under contract the 3,000-square foot log home on the Colorado River and nestled in the mountains northwest of Denver, according to real estate records. > > He and his wife closed on the house a month later, paying $1.825 million, [according to a deed in the county’s record system](https://politico.com/f/?id=00000187-b4de-dbff-a3df-bedee6670000). Gorsuch, who held a 20 percent stake, reported making between $250,001 and $500,000 from the sale on his [federal disclosure forms](https://fixthecourt.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Gorsuch-NM-J3.-SUP_R_17.pdf). > > **Gorsuch did not disclose the identity of the purchaser. That box was left blank.** (My emphasis) > **[Law firm head bought Gorsuch-owned property](https://www.politico.com/news/2023/04/25/neil-gorsuch-colorado-property-sale-00093579)** > > The Supreme Court justice did not report the identity of the purchaser, whose firm has had numerous cases before the court. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2023, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clarence-thomas-secretly-accepted-luxury-vacations-from-gop-donor-without-disclosing/982252/211 "2023-05-02T13:06:14Z")
Probably fodder for a different thread, but I’ve lately noticed a number of instances in which DCt judges issued pretty extreme rulings - such as the Texas “abortion pill” ruling. In many such cases, the reporting states that the judge was appointed by Trump, and describes past employment by religious or other far right clients/employment. I wonder to what extent that reflects reporting bias, and that there have always been federal judges with such past employment both left and right. (I’m not even quite sure what would be analogous left-leaning organizations. The Sierra Club or NAACP maybe?) But it sure has given me the impression that we have a great number of federal judges who appear quite eager to reject well-established precedent and issue sweeping decisions consistent with a conservative religious ideology. Just hope the idiots who failed to vote Dem because of “lesser of 2 evils/protest vote for Greens/independents” reasons is paying attention. Yes, ideology is very important. But one shouldn’t ignore the strategic impact of voting for certain candidates. ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2023, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clarence-thomas-secretly-accepted-luxury-vacations-from-gop-donor-without-disclosing/982252/212 "2023-05-02T14:10:24Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > And it just keeps going. At this point I think I should start a new thread (not sure). Already did, a week or so back if you want to use it - > [@Ongoing Judicial Deceit and Misrepresentation Omnibus Thread](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ongoing-judicial-deceit-and-misrepresentation-omnibus-thread/982796): > > Continuing the discussion from [Texas Federal Judge strikes down FDA approval of the abortion pill (competing lawsuit filed, outcome uncertain)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-federal-judge-strikes-down-fda-approval-of-the-abortion-pill-competing-lawsuit-filed-outcome-uncertain/982351/65): I’m starting a linked but separate thread for this, and while I know we sometimes dislike Omnibus threads, I feel we’re getting enough of them (and likely more in future sadly) to justify it. I set this one off from the Texas thread, but it is just as much a child of the Clarence Thomas thread. With an evil fairy step-mother “Loose Cannon” from the … Specifically because I was getting mixed between the multiple threads regarding abortion, Clarence, and oft the Schadenfreude thread. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2023, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clarence-thomas-secretly-accepted-luxury-vacations-from-gop-donor-without-disclosing/982252/213 "2023-05-03T21:25:08Z")
[Josh Blackman](https://reason.com/volokh/2023/05/02/another-judicial-ethics-story-about-justice-thomas-falls-apart/) linked to a rebuttal article on the purchase of Thomas’s mother’s home: > **[Why Harlan Crow Purchased Clarence Thomas’s Mother’s Home | National Review](https://www.nationalreview.com/2023/05/why-harlan-crow-purchased-the-home-of-clarence-thomass-mother/)** > > The transaction was conducted ethically — but the Left’s attacks on Justice Thomas have nothing to do with ethics. Mr. Blackman finds this convincing. Personally, I’m not seeing it. 1. None of this clears Thomas. Whether Crow is as clean as the winter snow isn’t particularly relevant. It doesn’t explain why Thomas failed to report anything. 2. It doesn’t explain the subsidized vacations. Likewise, it doesn’t explain Thomas’ rationale for thinking that free luxury vacations are reasonable to accept, let alone not report. 3. Crow’s argument that he just likes buying anything historical isn’t very well supported from the presented evidence. If he has only granted free rent to people around Thomas, that’s not very plausible. If he has only ever done it for his friends and young hotties, then that would seem to say that he has a fairly consistent pattern of trying to ingratiate himself through his personal finances. He would need to demonstrate that he’s got some sort of process for identifying locations of historic interest that isn’t connected to people he wants to impress. If he has a list of those, then he might have a defense. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2023, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clarence-thomas-secretly-accepted-luxury-vacations-from-gop-donor-without-disclosing/982252/214 "2023-05-03T21:45:33Z")
You know, every time I hear the name “Harlan Crow”, I just get an image of some drug addled Kentucker redneck from an Elmore Leonard novel sitting back in a big grain barrel he filled with water and rigged up with a water heater as a janky hot tub, drinking Old Crow straight from the bottle and smoking a General Brisco while a couple of trashy prostitutes sit around painting their nails. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Hamlet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hamlet/32/2818_2.png) [@Hamlet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamlet)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2023, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clarence-thomas-secretly-accepted-luxury-vacations-from-gop-donor-without-disclosing/982252/215 "2023-05-03T21:51:14Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > [Josh Blackman](https://reason.com/volokh/2023/05/02/another-judicial-ethics-story-about-justice-thomas-falls-apart/) linked to a rebuttal article on the purchase of Thomas’s mother’s home: > > [Harlan Crow's Purchase of Clarence Thomas's Mother's Home Conducted Ethically | National Review](https://www.nationalreview.com/2023/05/why-harlan-crow-purchased-the-home-of-clarence-thomass-mother/) Josh Blackmon is the Bret Kavanaugh of shitty law professors: a partisan hack fully owned and operated by donors to the Federalist Society and the Republican party. I wouldn’t trust him to offer anything close to objective legal analysis. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2023, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clarence-thomas-secretly-accepted-luxury-vacations-from-gop-donor-without-disclosing/982252/216 "2023-05-03T21:52:01Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > You know, every time I hear the name “Harlan Crow”, I just get an image of some drug addled Kentucker redneck from an Elmore Leonard novel sitting back in a big grain barrel he filled with water and rigged up with a water heater as a janky hot tub, drinking Old Crow straight from the bottle and smoking a General Brisco while a couple of trashy prostitutes sit around painting their nails. I was literally just thinking that! I’ve been rewatching _Justified_ with my daughter–y’know, that show set in Harlan KY with a character named Dewey Crowe–and this is all I can think about when I read the name. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2023, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clarence-thomas-secretly-accepted-luxury-vacations-from-gop-donor-without-disclosing/982252/217 "2023-05-03T22:00:03Z")
They keep talking about how the Supremes are different than other judges, and I am not an Article 3 judge. But it just boggles my mind that anyone could think these sorts of “gift” and transactions appropriate and not worthy of disclosure. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2023, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clarence-thomas-secretly-accepted-luxury-vacations-from-gop-donor-without-disclosing/982252/218 "2023-05-04T01:45:25Z")
The Law. It’s a nice idea for those Other people. But not for me/us. That attitude is really all we need to know about Thomas and certain of his cow-orkers. The real sadness of the Thomas case is that he was known to be _outre_ by the then-normal standards of ~35 years ago. And the system let him on anyhow despite that. And here we are. he is the tip of the corruption / impunity iceberg at the top of the federal judiciary. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2023, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clarence-thomas-secretly-accepted-luxury-vacations-from-gop-donor-without-disclosing/982252/219 "2023-05-04T11:19:05Z")
Harlan Crow paid for years of private boarding school tuition for Clarence Thomas’s nephew at $6,000 a month. > **[Clarence Thomas Had a Child in Private School. Harlan Crow Paid the Tuition.](https://www.propublica.org/article/clarence-thomas-harlan-crow-private-school-tuition-scotus)** > > Crow paid for private school for a relative Thomas said he was raising “as a son.” “This is way outside the norm,” said a former White House ethics lawyer. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2023, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clarence-thomas-secretly-accepted-luxury-vacations-from-gop-donor-without-disclosing/982252/220 "2023-05-04T11:43:18Z")
A rather large question raised by the article: > [@](#): > > In 2006 for example, the Thomases brought in more than $500,000 in income. The following year, they made more than $850,000 from Clarence Thomas’ salary from the court, Ginni Thomas’ pay from the Heritage Foundation and book payments for the justice’s memoir. > > It appears that at some point in Martin’s childhood, Thomas was paying for private school himself. Martin told ProPublica that Thomas sold his Corvette — “his most prized car” — to pay for a year of tuition, although he didn’t remember when that occurred. If the family is getting free vacations, while bringing in $500k-$1m a year, and they have to sell a car to afford tuition at a school for one kid, then they’re living in debt. Debt is a magnet for those who would want to influence someone. I wonder if Thomas has or needs security clearance for some of his cases. There has to be the occasional one that deals with defense secrets. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clarence-thomas-secretly-accepted-luxury-vacations-from-gop-donor-without-disclosing/982252.md?page=10) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clarence-thomas-secretly-accepted-luxury-vacations-from-gop-donor-without-disclosing/982252.md?page=12)