Source: OLIVIER DOULIERY / Getty
A report reveals that Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has received more secret gifts from billionaire donors including 38 vacations.
The new report details the massive amount of gifts of luxury travel that Thomas has received over three decades including 38 lavish destination vacations. These trips include 26 private jet flights and eight helicopter trips. Other gifts included VIP passes to college and professional sporting events, and an open invitation to a super-exclusive golf club perched on the Atlantic coast known as “The Floridian”.
These gifts have reportedly come from an array of billionaires, including Harlan Crow, who has been in the news constantly after it was discovered that he bestowed Thomas with numerous gifts in the form of private flights and purchasing his mother’s home in Georgia. Other billionaire donors include former Berkshire Hathaway executive David Sokol and the late H. Wayne Huizenga, the man behind national chains Blockbuster and Waste Management whom he met through the exclusive nonprofit Horatio Alger Association. Another, oil magnate Paul “Tony” Novelly, is another donor noted in the report.
The report goes on in detail about the extent that these donors gave to Thomas, and how they benefited from being in proximity to him. One example shows that the Supreme Court Justice granted the Horatio Alger Association unprecedented access to the court for members in its Great Hall as a way to fundraise for the group – going against explicit judiciary guidelines. Another instance describes Sokol addressing a group of former association scholarship recipients, and making a direct reference to a case that was before the Supreme Court concerning President Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness program.
“In my career, I don’t remember ever seeing this degree of largesse given to anybody,” said Jeremy Fogel, a former federal judge who served on the committee that reports judicial financial disclosures. “I think it’s unprecedented.” The news adds to more controversy surrounding Thomas, as his financial disclosures on record do not contain any of this information.
