Clarence Thomas Failed to Disclose Even More Gifts From Harlan Crow [COMMENTARY]

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-OR) revealed on Monday that Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas failed to report even more luxurious gifts and exotic vacations financed by billionaire Harlan "Jim" Crow (nickname mine). 

Thomas and his Trump-loving wife, Ginni, took a previously undisclosed round-trip flight from Hawaii to New Zealand on a private jet owned by the GOP megadonor in November 2010. But the flight was never listed on Thomas’ financial disclosure reports.

The revelation isn't all that surprising considering Thomas had a history of failing to disclose gifts from Crow throughout his tenure on the high court. 

This is only the most recent example of Thomas accepting luxury travel from Crow becoming public, but it comes at a time when trust in the Supreme Court is at an all-time low. 

Sen. Wyden sent a letter to Crow's attorney, Michael Bopp, regarding the failures to report as a way for Thomas to duck paying taxes for the luxury items, including undisclosed trips on Crow's megayacht, the Michaela Rose.

“Neither Mr. Crow nor Justice Thomas have disclosed the full scale of Thomas’s use of the Michaela Rose and private jets courtesy of Mr. Crow," Sen. Wyden writes, "even as the Congress continues to uncover additional international private jet travel with Mr. Crow that Justice Thomas failed to disclose on his ethics filings.

“I am deeply concerned that Mr. Crow may have been showering a public official with extravagant gifts, then writing off those gifts to lower his tax bill,” Wyden wrote.

Accountability for the egregious ethics breaches would be great, considering a new code of ethics for SCOTUS has been established but not technically put into practice.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) has already filed Articles of Impeachment against Thomas as well as his fellow justice Samuel Alito.

And thankfully, President Joe Biden has a great plan to overhaul the Supreme Court before he leaves the White House in January.