Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas said Friday he was not required to disclose the many trips he and his wife took that were paid for by donor Harlan Crow.
Describing Crow and his wife, Kathy, as “among our dearest friends,” Thomas put out a lengthy statement denying any responsibility to disclose.
“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,” Thomas said, prompting conflicting views from ethics watchdogs.
The federal judiciary has long enjoyed a looser code than the legislative and executive branches, and the Supreme Court was operating without any code until recently.
Then, last month, the federal judiciary bolstered disclosure requirements for all judges, including the Supreme Court justices. However, overnight stays at personal vacation homes owned by friends remain exempt from disclosure.
Thomas, the longest-serving member of the court, said he has always tried to comply with disclosure guidelines. Regarding those changes, “It is, of course, my intent to follow this guidance in the future,” he said in the statement.
Thomas did not refer to any individual trips paid for by Crow. But he said, “As friends do, we have joined them on a number of family trips during the more than quarter century we have known them.”
It is by no means clear that the justices will agree to subject themselves to an ethics code or that Congress will seek to impose one on the court.
Democratic lawmakers said the ProPublica story was the latest illustration of why the Supreme Court should adopt an ethics code and further tighten the rules on travel and other gifts.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., tweeted, “Thomas must be impeached.”
One lawmaker — Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. — has long sloganeered about holding judges to the same standards as legislators and executives.
While serving as House speaker, Pelosi criticized a propsal to ban stock trades for legislators but to allow them for judges. She wanted the ban to include judges as well, and she viewed it as unfair to legislators.
“I don’t think the court should be let off the hook,” Pelosi said last year, according to NPR.
During her speakership, Pelosi used to defend her husband’s extremely profitable trades on the stock market, and she rebutted charges of insider trading.
Like Thomas, she defended her adherence to the letter of the law. She has long maintained that, if she had committed insider trading, then prosecutors could simply charge her under existing laws. “That’s a Justice Department issue,” she told NPR.
Pelosi has yet to tweet about the justice’s gifts, as of Friday afternoon.
Some observers took to Twitter to compare Thomas to Pelosi. “Thomas responds to Nancy Pelosi-style bulls**t,” one disgruntled conservative wrote, before the justice’s statement.
One person even described Pelosi’s scandals as worse, although they’re also less current.
The Horn editorial team and the Associated Press contributed to this article.