US Supreme Court Justice defends lavish trips as 'personal hospitality'

Justice Thomas went on one trip to Indonesia that would alone have cost US$500,000 (S$660,000), ProPublica calculated. PHOTO: AFP

WASHINGTON - US Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas defended himself on Friday over accusations that he accepted years of luxury travel trips from a Republican billionaire, saying that it was “personal hospitality” that did not need to be registered.

Justice Thomas, 74, was a guest of mega donor Harlan Crow, yachting in New Zealand, taking private jet flights across the globe and staying regularly at Mr Crow’s properties in the United States, the ProPublica news outlet reported.

The staunch conservative and longest-serving justice on the court went on one trip to Indonesia that would alone have cost US$500,000 (S$660,000), it calculated.

In a statement, Justice Thomas said that he had been previously advised by judicial colleagues “that this sort of personal hospitality from close personal friends, who did not have business before the Court, was not reportable”.

He also pointed to recent changes that tightened the regulations governing judges’ annual financial disclosures, and added: “And, it is, of course, my intent to follow this guidance in the future.”

ProPublica, citing interviews and photographs and other documents, detailed how Justice Thomas had joined Mr Crow for trips to an exclusive all-male wilderness resort in California and at Mr Crow’s private houses in Texas and New York state more than 20 years.

Mr Crow told ProPublica on Thursday that he often hosted “dear friends”, and that the two had never discussed pending cases.

The real estate developer has made more than US$10 million in donations to Republican political groups, ProPublica said, including half a million dollars to a conservative lobbying group founded by Justice Thomas’ wife, Ginni Thomas.

Mrs Thomas’ involvement in politics has drawn its own scrutiny for reports she took part in Donald Trump-led efforts to illegally overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.

The ProPublica revelations prompted outrage from some judges and Democrat politicians, while legal reform groups called for fundamental changes in how the US Supreme Court is run. AFP

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