(ConservativeHub.com) – On April 7, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas for the first time spoke about why he did not disclose the luxury trips that he had received from real estate developer and conservative Harlan Crow.
According to NBC News, Thomas released a statement disclosing that Crow and his spouse, Kathy, are “dearest friends.” He also said they would join Crow on his family trips over the years. Thomas added that when he was still new to the court, he had spoken to a colleague and other individuals, who told him “personal hospitality” gifts from close contacts did not need to be disclosed.
He added that throughout his tenure, he has always tried to “comply with the disclosure guidelines.”
Thomas is among the six conservative members of the Supreme Court. Last month Thomas claimed that he was going to be complying with the revised disclosure rules. The changes state that flights on private jets and private resort visits would need to be reported. Both of these are categories of luxury trips and gifts that Thomas has received from Crow.
With this new change in the disclosure rules, the term “personal hospitality” which had previously been undefined, becomes more strictly defined.
These changes were made only weeks before ProPublica published the article about all the gifts that Thomas had received from Crow. Under these new rules, Thomas would need to disclose all of these trips, including the trips he took on Crow’s jet and his visit to his private resort.
Copyright 2023, ConservativeHub.com
