WOOD COUNTY, Texas (KETK) – A ProPublica report claims that Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has made at least one undisclosed visit to GOP megadonor Harlan Crow’s East Texas ranch.
On top of Thomas using Crow’s yacht and private Bombardier Global 5000 jet, Crow and Thomas have travelled to the infamous Bohemian Grove retreat and Crow’s East Texas ranch together, according to the report.
According to the report, Thomas never disclosed these trips, which might violate a law requiring judicial officers and employees report gifts more than $415 in value. Just one trip Thomas and his wife allegedly took to Indonesia could have exceeded $500,000, the report said.
A statement issued by Crow said that “The hospitality we have extended to the Thomas’s over the years is no different from the hospitality we have extended to our many other dear friends.”
Legal and business documents show that Crow’s businesses own Mill Creek Farm in Wood County. According to Justia Trademarks, the farm’s trademark is owned by CFH Mill Creek Company, L.P.
Texas State public records show that CH ASSET COMPANY is the registered agent for CFH Mill Creek Company, L.P. and they also show that Harlan R. Crow is the chairman and director of CH ASSET COMPANY.
Here’s Justice Thomas’s full statement in response:
Harlan and Kathy Crow are among our dearest friends, and we have been friends for over twenty-five years. As friends do, we have joined them on a number of family trips during the more than quarter century we have known them. Early in my tenure at the Court, 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. I have endeavored to follow that counsel throughout my tenure, and have always sought to comply with the disclosure guidelines. These guidelines are now being changed, as the committee of the Judicial Conference responsible for financial disclosure for the entire federal judiciary just this past month announced new guidance. And, it is, of course, my intent to follow this guidance in the future.
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas