We take a line-by-line look at Thomas’s rare public comment.
In a rare public comment, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas responded to a blockbuster ProPublica report that he had accepted luxury trips around the globe from a Dallas business executive and influential GOP donor. Here’s a parsing of each line in the carefully worded statement.
Thomas was appointed to the Supreme Court 32 years ago, so this friendship between the justice and Harlan Crow developed after he joined the court. ProPublica reported that “the pair have become genuine friends, according to people who know both men.” The article said “Crow has spent millions on ideological efforts to shape the law and the judiciary.”
The ProPublica article documented some of these trips, including a nine-day journey in Indonesia on a private plane and superyacht that would have cost Thomas more than $500,000 if he had funded it himself. As a Supreme Court justice Thomas earns $285,000 a year.
Notably, Thomas’s statement does not address his use of Crow’s private plane for other reasons.
“Flight records from the Federal Aviation Administration and FlightAware suggest he makes regular use of Crow’s plane,” the ProPublica article said. “The jet often follows a pattern: from its home base in Dallas to Washington Dulles Airport for a brief stop, then on to a destination Thomas is visiting and back again.” For instance, in 2016, he used Crow’s plane for a three-hour trip to New Haven. Jet charter companies told ProPublica that “renting an equivalent plane for the New Haven trip could cost around $70,000.
