Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas Sold Property to Billionaire Republican Megadonor and Did Not Disclose It Says Report

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has found himself in a bribery scandal after accepting lavish gifts from billionaire Republican megadonor Harlan Crow. Now, new details about their dealings have emerged.

ProPublica, which first broke the news of the conservative Supreme Court Justice's acceptance of gifts, reported that Thomas has sold the property to Crowe, but did not disclose their deal. The deal in question was when the billionaire land developer purchased a string of properties on a quiet residential street in Savannah, Georgia back in 2014.

While this was nothing special for the real estate magnate, among the properties he bought was an old single-story home and two vacant lots down the road. However, Justice Thomas and his relatives were reportedly part of this deal.

This is noted as the first instance that money flowed from the wealthy Texan to the embattled Supreme Court Justice. The Republican megadonor paid $133,363 from three co-owners, which included Justice Thomas, his mother, and his late brother's family.

This means that Crow essentially owned the building where the Supreme Court justice's mother was living in, as well as renovating the property which used to belong to the justice.

Officials, including Supreme Court justices, are required to disclose the details of real estate sales over $1,000, per federal disclosure law passed after Watergate. However, Thomas did not disclose the fact that he sold his Savannah properties.

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and Republican Megadonor Harlan Crow Downplayed Gifts

Crow's gifts to the Supreme Court justice, who already raised eyebrows because of his wife, Ginni Thomas's connections to the January 6 Capitol Insurrection, included lavish vacations across the world. These vacations are reportedly worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, with Crow paying for all of them.

This relationship between Crow and Thomas had been going off for almost two decades now, and these vacations have been happening almost every year. However, Justice Thomas downplayed the discovery.

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Thomas maintained that he was not required to disclose his trips with Crow and that they should not count as he and the wealthy Republican backer have been friends for around 20 years. However, many have been pointing out that Thomas has been a Supreme Court justice for far longer than that.

As for Harlan Crow, he stated that he wanted "to one day create a public museum at the Thomas home dedicated to telling the story of our nation's second black Supreme Court Justice." According to the Associated Press, Crow stated that "Justice Thomas's story represents the best of America."

The Debate Around Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas's Relationship With Harlan Crow

Yahoo! News has pointed out that this discovery has sparked a debate on what Supreme Court justices should be doing. While conservatives rallied to defend Thomas, liberals have called out these gifts and transactions as outright bribery.

Conservatives argued that Supreme Court Justice Thomas followed ethics rules as they are written and insisted that Thomas's relationship with Crow could not alter his decisions on various cases.

However, liberals argued that the gifts from Crow, who has given millions to fund Republicans, are inconsistent with ethical standards expected of any public servant, including a justice of the Supreme Court. Several, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, have called for Thomas's impeachment.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Rick Martin

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