Clarence Thomas Ethics Scandal: Supreme Court Justice's Wife Received Money From GOP Activist

Conservative Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has been caught up in more ethics scandals. This time it involved a family member, his wife, Ginni Thomas, and former Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway.

A recent ProPublica report revealed that real estate billionaire and conservative donor Harlan Crow had paid thousands for Clarence's grandnephew's school tuition, which was not disclosed.

According to a Washington Post report, conservative activist Leonard Leo also sent payments worth tens of thousands of dollars to Ginni. He did not disclose her name, and it was allegedly for consulting work she did decades ago.

The payment allegedly happened in 2012, when Clarence was already a Supreme Court justice. Leo had reportedly instructed Conway, who was still a Republican pollster then, to bill a non-profit group he advises and use that money to pay Ginni.

The Washington Post reported that this happened the same year that a brief was filed to the Supreme Court in a landmark voting rights case by the Judicial Education Project, which involves Leo.

The Judicial Education Project was the same non-profit Conway billed and used the money to pay Ginni. Leo had been a key figure in a network of conservative non-profit organizations working to get conservative judges nominated.

He reportedly told the future Trump adviser to "give" Ginni "another $25K." However, in the paperwork obtained by WaPo, he emphasized that she should have never mentioned Ginni by name.

Leo was a longtime friend of the Thomas family. These payments have shown that he arranged money taken from a non-profit organization and paid the wife of the Supreme Court justice, with that non-profit having a vested interest in a case that the high court was handling.

Billionaire Harlan Crow Paid for the Tuition of a Relative of Clarence Thomas

Clarence Thomas is not only involved in what appears to be a bribery scandal involving his wife but also his own bribery scandal involving Harlan Crow.

The new ProPublica report revealed that the billionaire paid not just for the justice's lavish vacations and his mother's home but also for the tuition and admission of his grandnephew to an exclusive boarding school.

Clarence reportedly sent his teenage grandnephew to Hidden Lake Academy, a private boarding school in Georgia. The Thomases reportedly raised the teen as a son, and he grew up with them in Washington, D.C.

The tuition in that boarding school was expensive and cost over $6,000 a month. However, the Supreme Court justice did not foot the bill, as Harlan Crow reportedly paid for tuition.

A former school administrator also confirmed that the payments extended throughout the school year, with the administrator saying, "Harlan picked up the tab."

Clarence Thomas' Friend Defends Embattled Supreme Court Justice

Former Trump administration official and friend to Clarence Thomas, Mark Paoletta, released a statement arguing that the Supreme Court justice was not required to report the tuition.

According to the New York Times, he noted that a 1978 law ruled that judges must disclose gifts to dependent children, who are defined as "a son, daughter, stepson or stepdaughter." However, his grandnephew did not count as he was neither of these.

Paloetta noted that the attacks on Clarence, his family, and Harlan Crow were "malicious." However, ethics experts said Crow's tuition payments for the justice's grandnephew were reportable.

READ MORE: January 6 Hearing: Donald Trump Pressured Justice Department to Call 2020 Election 'Corrupt'

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Written by: Rick Martin

WATCH: Wife of Justice Clarence Thomas Received Thousands in Hidden Payments, Washington Post Reports - CNN