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By Matthew Impelli
Life & Trends Reporter
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U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas officially disclosed two paid vacations in new financial filings this week.
On Friday, Justice Thomas filed a financial disclosure report that included two amendments for 2019 trips he took that were paid for by major Republican donor Harlan Crow.
"During the preparation and filing of this report, filer sought and received guidance from his accountant and ethics counsel," the document, which was reviewed by Newsweek, said. "Consistent with the review of prior filings that the filer began last year, report for calendar year 2019 is hereby amended to include the following entries under the reimbursement section, which was inadvertently omitted at the time of filing."
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The document went on to include two separate trips from 2019 that were paid for by the Crows, including a trip to Bali, Indonesia, on July 12, 2019, and another trip to Monte Rio, California, from July 18-21, 2019. The document states that the items paid for during his trips included "food and lodging" at a hotel and a "private club."
The change in the financial filings this week comes over a year after ProPublica published a report detailing the trips Thomas took that were paid for by Crow.
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According to the report, Thomas and his wife, Ginni, took trips paid for by Crow almost on a yearly basis for over two decades. The report states interviews and documents detailed Thomas traveled on Crow's yacht, as well as his jet. Thomas vacationed with Crow to the Bohemian Grove retreat, a campground in California where powerful individuals are known to gather. Thomas has also traveled to a private resort in the Adirondacks owned by Crow, the report said.
In a statement responding to the report, Thomas said, "Harlan and Kathy Crow are among our dearest friends, and we have been friends for over twenty-five years. As friends do, we have joined them on a number of family trips during the more than quarter century we have known them."
"Early in my tenure at the Court, I sought guidance from my colleagues and others in the judiciary, and was advised that this sort of personal hospitality from close personal friends, who did not have business before the Court, was not reportable. I have endeavored to follow that counsel throughout my tenure, and have always sought to comply with the disclosure guidelines," the statement which was obtained by Newsweek in April 2023, said. "These guidelines are now being changed, as the committee of the Judicial Conference responsible for financial disclosure for the entire federal judiciary just this past month announced new guidance. And, it is, of course, my intent to follow this guidance in the future."
Following the report, many called for the Supreme Court to adopt a code of ethics, with a petition calling for the court to come up with a "clear and enforceable code of ethics."
In November 2023, the Supreme Court announced a new code of conduct for justices.
"The absence of a Code, however, has led in recent years to the misunderstanding that the Justices of this Court, unlike all other jurists in this country, regard themselves as unrestricted by any ethics rules. To dispel this misunderstanding, we are issuing this Code, which largely represents a codification of principles that we have long regarded as governing our conduct," the court said in a statement at the time.
Newsweek reached out to the U.S. Supreme Court via email on Friday for comment.
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