Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas admitted on June 7 to not reporting two complimentary vacations he received from Dallas billionaire Republican Harlan Crow, marking the first time he publicly acknowledged the oversight in a financial disclosure filing.
According to ABC News, the undisclosed trips occurred in 2019, with one to Indonesia and the other to the exclusive all-male luxury retreat, Bohemian Grove, situated in northern California.
This admission comes unexpectedly, as Justice Thomas previously contended that he was not obligated to disclose such gifts, as reported by ProPublica.
His legal representative had refuted allegations of Thomas failing to report gifts, deeming them false.
However, in his recent financial disclosure filing, Thomas submitted an amendment for his 2019 report, citing an inadvertent omission of the trips during the initial submission.
This is not the first instance of Thomas omitting disclosures of luxury vacations and gifts.
Previous reports by ProPublica detailed how Crow provided Thomas with various favors, including private jet flights, international yacht cruises, and financial benefits, raising ethical concerns.
Comparatively, other justices have also faced scrutiny over reported gifts. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, for instance, disclosed a significant advance for her forthcoming memoir and acceptance of Beyoncé concert tickets valued at nearly $4,000.
Legal analysts note that Thomas’s failure to disclose these trips and gifts may constitute a violation of the law.
Concerns over ethical integrity within the Supreme Court have led to a decline in public approval, prompting the adoption of a code of conduct for gift disclosure last year.
The code stipulates that if there is reasonable cause to believe a justice intentionally omitted information, the matter should be referred to the attorney general, though such referrals have yet to occur.
