CREW Reports Justice Thomas’ “Pants on fire!”
What if a wealthy famous right wing donor gave a Supreme Court Justice a half million dollars, plus thousands of dollars every year for the past 20 years, amounting to another couple million and counting? Would you think the Justice would objectively rule on an issue — say, abortion as a right of privacy maybe — that the donor has a hard on for? C’mon, man.
Thomas J., holding court — picture from True North Research
CREW’S complaint against Justice Clarence Thomas last Friday makes for some really good voyeuristic reading, I am just gonna admit it. Its only tangentially related to nonprofits, but I read it and am reporting on it because its salacious in a strange sort of way. Shoot, I might even need a cold shower.
Not sex, but plenty of high on the hog living, I’ll tell you that. Including a nine day trip to Indonesia with wealthy nonprofit puppet masters like Leo Leonard, about whom we blogged last week, and cruises to New Zealand. CREW is a tax-exempt government watchdog organization so I read the complaint to see if there were anything else related to nonprofit and tax exempt organizations. Plus I am not bothered by my secret feelings of schadenfreude towards Thomas, I’ll admit that too. All I can say at this point is that if the Supreme Court were a tax exempt organization, Thomas might be guilty of engaging in serious acts of inurement and the Court might legitimately be accused of conferring illegitimate private benefit. A few samples:
In 1997, Justice Thomas accepted a private plane trip to California from Mr. Crow to attend an all-male retreat at the Bohemian Grove, which he reported on his financial disclosure report. More recently, Justice Thomas accepted, but did not disclose on his financial disclosure reports, a 2019 trip to Indonesia on board Mr. Crow’s Bombardier Global 5000 jet so they could embark on a nine-day “ island-hopping” cruise aboard Mr. Crow’s 162-foot “superyacht,” the Michaela Rose, which is staffed by a coterie of attendants and a private chef. ProPublica estimates that the total cost of the trip could have exceeded $500,000 if Justice Thomas had chartered the plane and yacht himself.
ProPublica reports that Justice Thomas and his wife previously joined Mr. Crow on a New Zealand cruise and on a separate river day trip around Savannah, Georgia. In addition to the yachting ventures, ProPublica reports that Justice Thomas and his wife accept vacations almost every year from Mr. Crow, at Topridge, Mr. Crow’s 105-acre luxury resort in the Adirondacks. Topridge features an artificial waterfall, more than 25 fireplaces, three boathouses, a clay tennis court, a batting cage, a hut that replicates the home of a Harry Potter character, a 1950’s-style soda fountain where the staff fixes milkshakes, a great hall where guests are served meals prepared by private chefs, private fishing guides, and private concerts. Rooms at nearby resorts that are less “exclusive” than Topridge start at $2,250 a night.
Oh, the comic irony! A brother like me or Clarence woulda been hung from the highest tree for snuggling up and sharing a milkshake with a white woman at a 1950’s soda fountain. Anywhere in America, GTFOH! I might need a defibrillator because I can’t stop laughing. But I digress. Here is more from the complaint:
It is said that a picture paints a thousand words. In this case, a painting featuring Mr. Crow, Justice Thomas and three other guests hangs at Topridge that not only memorializes the degree to which Justice Thomas has benefited from Mr. Crow’s generosity, but uniquely demonstrates the opportunity it affords other guests to befriend and influence a sitting Member of the Supreme Court. The painting prominently features Justice Thomas seated next to Mr. Crow, and sitting nearby, in a half circle, are Leonard Leo, the Co-Chairman and former Executive Vice President of the Federalist Society; Professor Peter Rutledge, a contributor to the Federalist Society and professor of law who “regularly files briefs and advises lawyers in matters before the Supreme Court and lower courts;” and Mark Paoletta, who is also a contributor to the Federalist Society, former General Counsel of the Office of Management and Budget, author of a biography on Clarence Thomas, Senior Fellow at the Center for Renewing America, and most recently, a lawyer for Ginni Thomas when she was asked to appear before the House January 6 Committee. Notably, Mr. Paoletta was also a fellow traveler on the Michaela Rose cruise trip to Indonesia, but as he was the General Counsel for the US Office of Management and Budget (OMB) at the time and subject to executive branch ethics rules, he was instructed by his agency ethics official to reimburse Mr. Crow for the costs of that trip.
The complaint goes on to assert that Justice Thomas is as a fool and a liar — seriously, my schadenfreude doesn’t extend far enough to take pleasure in any brother’s caricature, potentially racist inspired. But Thomas damn well knew better. And CREW uses Thomas’ own hot-mic-at-a conference comment that “any fool would know” of the disclosure obligation about which Justice Thomas claimed ignorance. It labels Thomas’s explanations as “disingenuous” and engendering “disbelief.” “Pants on fire!” I guess. Lots of other guffaw-inducing, side-splitting assertions too, at least that’s how I picture the authors as they were writing the complaint.
darryll jones