Controversial United States Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas defended his luxury trips, which he took with billionaire Republican donor Harlan Crow. According to reports, Thomas allegedly accepted vacations almost every year for two decades.
In a statement published on Friday, Thomas defended the trips and said he believed that those trips, didn't require to be reported. “Harlan and Kathy Crow are among our dearest friends, we have been friends for over 25 years,” Thomas said in a statement. “We have joined them (Crow couple) on a number of family trips during the more than quarter century we have known them. I sought guidance from my colleagues and others in the judiciary, and was advised that this sort of personal hospitality from close personal friends, who did not have business before the Court, was not reportable,” he said in a statement.
Thomas said he has always sought to comply with the disclosure guidelines and intends to follow the new guidance proposed by Judicial Conference responsible for financial disclosure.
A recent report in ProPublica alleged Justice Thomas accepted vacations from Crow and the trips included several on Crow's luxury yacht and private plane, BBC reported. According to ProPublica one trip, to Indonesia in 2019, may have cost as much as $500,000 (£403,000).
The Guardian reported Thomas enjoyed holidays at Crow’s ranch in Texas and joined him at an exclusive all-male California retreat. “The justice usually spends about a week each summer at Crow’s private resort in the Adirondack mountains in New York,” the publication reported.
Thomas was born in Savannah, Georgia, and learned Geechee, a Creole language spoken by the descendants of slaves, before standard English. He was abandoned by his father but says his grandfather instilled his work ethic, the publication reported.