Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas accepted private school tuition payments for a young relative of conservative Republican megadonor Harlan Crow, ProPublica reported Thursday in another explosive revelation about the untold gifts of conservative justice.
Crow paid for Thomas’ great-nephew Mark Martin’s private boarding school tuition for at least a month in July 2009, according to a financial statement obtained by the outlet.
A former administrator of Hidden Lake Academy in Georgia told ProPublica that Crow footed the $6,000-a-month tuition bill for the entire year and also paid the teens’ tuition at a second boarding school, Randolph-Macon Academy in Virginia, which turned out to be Crow’s soul. mother
The total Crow paid for Martin’s tuition over the years was unclear, ProPublica reported, but the price tag for four years at the two schools could have exceeded $150,000.
The payments are likely to fuel the uproar over Thomas’ acceptance of luxury vacations, private jet trips, mega-yacht adventures and profits from Crow’s real estate sales. Most of those gifts, such as tuition payments, are not mentioned in Thomas’ financial disclosure forms.
Thomas did not respond to ProPublica’s request for comment. she said before him he didn’t think he had to reveal “personal hospitality” Of a friend.
Speaking to ProPublica, Crow denied that the judge, or his wife Ginni Thomas, had asked for his help paying for the schools.
“Harlan Crow has always been passionate about the importance of quality education and giving back to those less fortunate, especially at-risk youth,” Crow said in the statement. “As part of his desire to perpetuate the American dream for all, and believing that education is the great equalizer, he and his wife have supported many young Americans through scholarships and other programs at a variety of schools, including his soul mater”.
At age 6, Martin moved in with the Thomases in Virginia after the judge became his legal guardian around January 1998 following the arrest of Martin’s father. He stayed with the Thomases until he was 19 years old.
Martin told ProPublica that he and the Thomases were hosted by Crow on vacation “at least once a year” when he was growing up with them. ProPublica reported last month that Thomas “luxury travel accepted practically every year” de Crow for more than two decades without denouncing them.
ProPublica also found that the court made an undisclosed statement real estate transaction with the Texas billionaire in 2014 by selling him some Georgia property. Thomas’s mom still lives in one of those properties and pays no rent.
Thomas reportedly plans to modify the disclosure forms to report the deal, according to CNN.
Mark Paoletta, lawyer and friend of Thomas, In a lengthy Twitter post on Thursday, defended the fact that justice did not disclose Crow’s tuition payments. He argued that because the billionaire paid the schools directly on Martin’s behalf, the payments “did not constitute a reportable gift.” He added that a “great-nephew,” another term for great-nephew, does not meet the legal definition of “dependent child” under ethics rules.
Paoletta said Crow offered to pay Martin’s year’s tuition at both schools.
“Judge Thomas never asked Harlan Crow to pay his great-nephew’s tuition. And neither Harlan Crow nor his company had any business before the Supreme Court,” Paoletta wrote. “This malicious story shows nothing except the fact that the Thomases and the Ravens are kind, generous and loving people who tried to help this young man.”
The latest revelation renews pressure on the Senate Judiciary Committee to crack down on Thomas and the Supreme Court. The panel held its first hearing about the court’s growing ethical problems this week.
Chief Justice John Roberts refused an invitation to appear before the committee, citing “concerns about the separation of powers and the importance of preserving judicial independence.”