Clarence Thomas's Amended Financial Disclosures Reveal Previously Unreported Trips

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has amended his 2023 financial disclosure forms to include two previously unreported trips paid for by his friend, conservative businessman Harlan Crow. The trips were to Bali, Indonesia, and Sonoma County, California, and were taken in 2019. Thomas has defended the trips, saying that the Crows are close personal friends and that he has always sought to comply with disclosure guidelines.

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has amended his 2023 financial disclosure forms to include two previously unreported trips paid for by his friend, conservative businessman Harlan Crow. The trips were to Bali, Indonesia, and Sonoma County, California, and were taken in 2019.

Thomas's amended disclosure forms were released on Friday, May 19, 2023. The trips were not disclosed in the 2019 report.

In a statement, Thomas said that he had sought guidance from his accountant and ethics counsel in preparing and filing the amended report. He said that he had followed the same guidance that he had used in previous filings and that he had always sought to comply with disclosure guidelines.

Thomas's amended disclosures come after ProPublica reported on the trips in April 2023. The ProPublica report said that Thomas had not disclosed the trips on his financial disclosure forms and that he had not sought approval from the Supreme Court for the trips.

Thomas defended the trips in a statement at the time, saying that the Crows were close personal friends and that he had always followed Supreme Court guidance. He said that he had sought guidance from his colleagues and others in the judiciary early in his tenure at the Court and had been advised that this sort of personal hospitality from close personal friends, who did not have business before the Court, was not reportable.

Thomas said that he had endeavored to follow that counsel throughout his tenure and had always sought to comply with the disclosure guidelines. He said that the guidelines were now being changed and that it was his intent to follow the new guidance in the future.

The Supreme Court issued a new "Code of Conduct" in November 2022 following months of heightened scrutiny from Senate Judiciary Democrats pushing for new ethics laws for the high court. The Code includes two new canons that appear to be in response to reports over travel arrangements for private trips taken by Justices Thomas and Samuel Alito paid by others.

The new canons state that a Justice should not use judicial chambers, resources, or staff to engage in activities that do not materially support official functions or other activities permitted under the Code. A Justice may accept reasonable compensation and reimbursement of expenses for permitted activities if the source of the payments does not give the appearance of influencing the Justice's official duties or otherwise appear improper.

The Code also states that expense reimbursement should be limited to the actual or reasonably estimated costs of travel, food, and lodging reasonably incurred by the Justice and, where appropriate to the occasion, by the Justice's spouse or relative.