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BREAKING Harlan Crow Refuses To Tell
Congress About His Gifts To Clarence Thomas Alison Durkee Forbes Staff Following May 23, 2023, 12:47pm EDT | Press play to listen to this article! Got it! Updated May 23, 2023, 01:42pm EDT Share to
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Twitter Share to Linkedin Topline Real estate magnate and GOP megadonor Harlan Crow did not provide a full accounting of gifts he’s given to
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas to the
Senate Judiciary Committee as it asked him to provide, the committee confirmed Tuesday, potentially paving the way for lawmakers to subpoena him, as Crow and Thomas’ friendship continues to draw scrutiny. U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas at the Supreme Court in
Washington, D.C., on October 7, ... [+] 2022. AFP via Getty Images Key Facts
Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee asked Crow to provide an itemized list of all gifts valued over $415 that he’s given Thomas or any other Supreme Court justice, after a series of ProPublica reports detailed how Crow had funded decades of luxury travel for Thomas, paid his grandnephew’s tuition and bought real estate from the justice. Committee chair Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) confirmed in a statement Tuesday that Crow refused to respond to the committee’s request, with his attorneys sending a response that argued the committee did not have the authority to compel that information. Crow’s law firm argued Congress lacks the authority to enact legislation that creates a code of ethics for Supreme Court justices—which is why the committee said it needed information about Crow’s gifts—which Durbin said was untrue, noting that Chief Justice John Roberts has acknowledged other ethics laws imposed by Congress that apply to justices, like financial disclosure laws. Crow’s attorneys also claimed he does not have to provide the information because of separation of powers between Congress and the judiciary branch—which Durbin noted cannot apply “when Mr. Crow does not work, and has never worked, for the Supreme Court.” Crow’s response to the committee came after his attorneys had already sent a similar letter to the Senate Finance Committee, which also requested information about Crow’s gifts to Thomas. The Judiciary Committee also sent letters to three companies that helped to facilitate Thomas’ travel at Crow’s Adirondacks resort and on his superyacht and private jet, which asked for details about other guests that traveled at the same time as the justice, but Durbin noted none of those companies sent individual responses. Crucial Quote “Harlan Crow believes the secrecy of his lavish gifts to Justice Thomas is more important than the reputation of the highest court of law in this land,” Durbin said in a statement. “He is wrong.” What To Watch For Durbin said the committee would respond more fully to Crow “in short order” and “will continue to seek a substantive response to our information requests in order to craft and advance . . . targeted ethics legislation” for Supreme Court justices. The chairman hasn’t ruled out the possibility that the committee could subpoena Crow, saying on
CNN that “everything is on the table” in terms of the committee’s next steps. The Senate Finance Committee has also reiterated its requests to Crow after his attorneys initially stonewalled lawmakers’ requests for information about his gifts to Thomas. Crow has been directed to respond to that letter by June 2. Chief Critic Crow defended his friendship with Thomas in an interview with the Atlantic published Monday, saying he’s never discussed Supreme Court cases with the justice and it would be “absurd” for him to do so because he’s not a “law guy.” He did acknowledge that “it’s not realistic [for] two people [to] be
Friends and not talk about their jobs from time to time,” but said their discussions are more about Thomas’ fondness for his clerks and running into former Justice Stephen Breyer at Target, and conversations about cases are “off limits.” It’s “kind of weird to think that if you’re a justice on the Supreme Court, you can’t have friends. That’s not healthy,” Crow said, saying he “believe[s] that I’m on the right side of right, morally and legally.” Key Background Crow and Thomas’ relationship has come under heavy scrutiny since ProPublica published its first report on their friendship in April, reporting that Thomas has accepted free luxury travel from Crow for decades without disclosing it, as ethics experts say federal law requires. Those tensions have escalated as ProPublica continued to report on the two men’s financial relationship, including Thomas’ relative’s tuition and Crow’s real estate purchase, which included the house in Savannah, Georgia, where Thomas’ mother still lives. The controversy comes as Thomas already faced ethics concerns over wife Ginni Thomas’ right-wing activism and has ramped up calls from Democrats for the Supreme Court to impose a binding code of ethics on justices, as lower federal judges have to follow. Roberts has so far refused to heed Democrats’ calls for the court to impose an ethics code on itself, and
Republicans have heavily opposed Democrats’ efforts, painting their push for stricter ethics rules as a left-wing campaign against conservative justices. Further Reading GOP Megadonor Harlan Crow Denies Talking About Supreme Court With Clarence Thomas (Forbes) Senate Committee Demands Full List Of Harlan Crow’s Gifts To Clarence Thomas (Forbes) Clarence Thomas: Here Are All The Ethics Scandals Involving The Supreme Court Justice Amid New Revelations (Forbes) Follow me on Twitter . Send me a secure tip . Alison Durkee Editorial Standards Print Reprints & Permissions