It’s Even Worse Than We Thought With Clarence Thomas

Every week seems to bring a new, stunning story about the rampant corruption of Justice Clarence Thomas. ProPublica, which has been at the forefront of reporting on Thomas’s misdeeds and scandals, was out yesterday with, yes, another new, stunning story.

Through extensive research, over 100 interviews including staff who worked on some of Thomas’s trips, and a careful review of records and social media posts, it’s now clear that Harlan Crow was not Thomas’s only sugar daddy. In what it reports as almost certainly an undercount, ProPublica has been able to confirm the following undisclosed junkets and gifts, all paid for by Thomas’s billionaire class friends:

38+ destination vacations

26 private jet flights

12 VIP passes to pro and college sporting events

2 stays at luxury resorts in Florida and Jamaica

1 standing invite to an uber-exclusive golf club

Notably, these gifts were from men Thomas met after becoming a Supreme Court justice. As Don Fox, the former general counsel of the U.S. Office of Government Ethics, has said to every new political appointee, wealthy friends are the ones you had before you were appointed. “You don’t get to acquire any new ones,” he warned.

ProPublica’s report is detailed, names names and comes with receipts. I invite you to read it in its entirety, but to get the gist of it, I’ll provide some highlights today. Then I’ll discuss reactions to the report and what, if anything, lawmakers and we the public can do about Justice Thomas.

It now seems clear Thomas broke the law

ProPublica’s reporting confirms that Harlan Crow’s lavish vacation gifts to, and financial support of, the Thomases weren’t an isolated case that could be explained away as a reporting oversight. Thomas also received millions of dollars worth of gifts from several other wealthy patrons—gifts that he once again failed to disclose. 

Aside from the question of whether Thomas should be receiving such gifts in the first place, the requirement to report the gifts is not ambiguous. According to ethics experts who spoke to ProPublica, for items like costly tickets to sporting events, there is simply no way to characterize that other than as a gift with a clear dollar value, often in the thousands or tens of thousands of dollars. The same goes for luxury vacations that took place at hotel resorts rather than at people’s homes. 

In short, it seems clear that Thomas broke not only ethical rules, but also the law around federal official gift reporting. Jeremy Fogel, a former judge who for years was responsible for reviewing lower court judges’ financial disclosures, told ProPublica, “In my career I don’t remember ever seeing this degree of largesse given to anybody. I think it’s unprecedented.”

Now it’s four billionaires, not one

In addition to supervillain Harlan Crow, there are now three other billionaire buddies of Thomas named in ProPublica’s reporting. These new characters include David Sokol, the former heir apparent at Berkshire Hathaway who resigned under a scandal of insider trading; Wayne Huizenga, who grew super wealthy from his ownership of Waste Management, Inc. and Blockbuster, among other companies; and Paul “Tony” Novelly, who was in the oil business, because of course, we need one of those dudes for good measure.

The report goes into great length describing the ways in which these men lavished gifts and privilege upon Thomas, and I won’t dive into all the details here, though they are more than troubling. Reading it leaves you with an understanding of Thomas’s deep need to be a part of a club that would never have admitted him but for his vote on the Court.

Among the more eye-popping revelations demonstrating the life of Clarence Thomas among the billionaire class:

• Huizenga sent his 737, outfitted with recliners, love seats and mahogany tables, to pick Thomas up and bring him to South Florida at least twice—gifts worth $260,000 had Thomas chartered the jet himself. Huizenga took Thomas twice to see games by the Miami Dolphins and the Florida Panthers—which were teams Huizenga owned. He also gifted Thomas a standing invite to his members-only Florida golf club, the Floridian, where as an “honorary” member, every cost was covered. Thomas was picked up from there by helicopter.

• Sokol has hosted the Thomases almost every summer for a decade. The trips out west include all-access passes to football and volleyball games with luxury suites, sky box seating, sideline access, and pictures in the end zone. After one game, Sokol flew with Thomas by private jet to his Paintbrush Ranch outside Jackson Hole, Wyoming—a 12,800 square foot property with a home theater, elevator, walk-in wine cellar and yacht docking.

• Novelly hosted Thomas multiple times on his two yachts in the Bahamas, trips that included flying him there first on a private jet. One of the yachts, the La Montrachet, named after the premium French wine, is a 126-footer with a full bar, dining areas, a baby grand, and room for 10 guests. When Novelly charters it out privately, it costs $60,000 a week. 

While none of these men appear to have had any direct business or cases before the court, all three are major contributors to the GOP and its causes, and their politics align directly with Thomas’s far-right view on the Court.

A shady nonprofit?

The point of connection between Thomas and these newly named billionaires appears to be a nonprofit called the Horatio Alger Association, which provides student scholarships and mentorship programs. Thomas was inducted into the organization in 1992. And it came with its benefits and some expectations.

Thomas joined Huizenga at the organization’s scholarship ceremonies in South Florida. While he reported these trips, he failed to disclose that it was Huizenga, and not the Association, who covered all his costs. As a board member of the Association, for example, Clarence took a lavish trip to Jamaica with his wife Ginni. There, a wealthy donor hosted them at a luxury hotel, where Johnny Cash performed. This all went unreported.

The Association features Thomas as a speaker every year at its events, held at the Supreme Court’s Great Hall. (This should have been a red flag long ago.) This event raises considerable money for the Association by charging huge admission fees—$1,500 for members, $7,500 for non-members—just to hear Thomas speak. If you give $100,000, you get a table inside the Supreme Court. I’d love to know who was at that table every year.

“It’s pay to play, isn’t it?” remarked Virginia Cantor, a former government ethics lawyer who has served in both parties’ administrations. “To use the Supreme Court to fundraise for somebody’s charity is, to me, an abuse of office.”

Indeed, the judiciary’s code of ethics expressly advises against federal judges using their positions to fundraise for outside organization, but according to Chief Justice Roberts, the Justices only “consult” the code and are not bound by it. This is maddening and a point of sore contention with Democrats in Congress.

Side note on the Horatio Alger Association. I’m frankly surprised it has never changed its name. ProPublica dryly dragged the nonprofit in its reporting:

The organization, named after the 19th-century novelist who popularized rags-to-riches folklore, gives millions in college scholarships each year and also brings together some of the country’s wealthiest, self-made business tycoons for opulent events. (In real life, Alger was a minister on Cape Cod who resigned from his parish after he was credibly accused of molesting boys.)

Democratic outrage

We are probably going to learn a lot more about the nature of these gifts and relationships as members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, chaired by Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), dig in further. And Sen. Durbin seems genuinely pissed off.

“This is a shameless lifestyle underwritten for years by a gaggle of fawning billionaires,” he wrote on Twitter. “Justices Thomas and Alito have made it clear that they’re oblivious to the embarrassment they’ve visited on the highest court in the land.” Sen. Durbin added that if the Court wouldn’t reform itself, Congress should step in and take charge.

There is a growing chorus of Democratic lawmakers calling for Justice Thomas to resign. Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA) has been leading the charge. “Justice Thomas has brought shame upon himself and the United States Supreme Court with his acceptance of massive, repeated and undisclosed gifts,” Rep. Lieu stated. “No government official, elected or unelected, could ethically or legally accept gifts of that scale. He should resign immediately.”

“Thomas takes cash bribes while crushing your freedoms,” Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr. (D-NJ) said. “He’s corrupt as hell and should resign today.”

But where will all this lead, if anywhere?

Our system, we have learned the hard way, isn’t set up very well to take on officials who openly flout the laws, rules and norms. This is especially true where one of the main political parties, which currently controls the House and is blocking most meaningful legislation in the Senate via the filibuster, is more than willing to protect the wrongdoers.

It further often seems that the worse the behavior, the more the GOP digs in. We have seen this with the bump in popularity Donald Trump enjoys with each new indictment. When politics, rather than ethics and decency, is the only lens through which bad behavior is viewed, all manner of deplorable activity, even criminality, becomes not only tolerated but celebrated. It’s “owning the libs,” apparently, to break the law and get away with it.

That means, frankly speaking, that there is currently neither a legal nor a congressional solution that can force Justice Thomas’s resignation. All that our elected representatives can do for the time being is shine light upon the truth of his corruption and hope that the voters take up the cause. 

But that doesn’t mean it’s not worth doing. In fact, public loss of trust in the Supreme Court, which is now seen as nothing more than the corrupt arm of the GOP, is now an important driver for voter turnout, particularly in light of the Court’s decision in Dobbs that stripped away 50 years of abortion rights. 

Moreover, should the day come when Democrats are in a position to pass court reform, we the public must press hard for our leaders to act. This includes passing legislation imposing real ethical rules that the Court must abide by. It could further include Supreme Court justice term limits, or even expansion of the number of justices to better reflect our modern Republic and its diverse composition.

In the meanwhile, fair warning, it will feel extremely frustrating. We know Thomas is corrupt and has violated not only every norm but several laws. We also know that the GOP will block every effort to hold him accountable, just as they do with Trump. But we shouldn’t throw up our hands in despair, lamenting that “nothing ever happens.” That only serves the aims of the GOP. They’re more than happy to see us give up.

Instead, we keep the pressure on. We demand hearings. We educate and motivate our voters. Importantly, there is a seismic shift happening among younger voters, who in four years will comprise the majority of the electorate and who voted near 68 percent Democratic in the last election. In just a few years, they will have the numbers and the will, if we help instill it, to effect real change and reform. We just have to hand them a country that is still a democracy.

And in 2024, when we retake the House, we can and should bring historic impeachment proceedings against a sitting Supreme Court Justice, Clarence Thomas. Let the Republicans in the Senate defend him and refuse to convict. It will demonstrate in clear terms, especially to voters in the political middle, just how far that party has fallen.