Clarence Thomas Exercises Right to Choose and Only Discloses Some of His Free Luxury Travel

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The Supreme Court released annual reports of the justices’ finances on Friday and Justice Clarence Thomas finally decided to formally disclose luxury travel gifted to him by Texas billionaire Harlan Crow—but only some of it!

In 2023, ProPublica reported that Crow had taken Thomas and his wife Ginni on a 2019 Indonesian trip that could have cost more than $500,000 if Thomas had paid for it himself. That trip included private jet flights and travel on a 162-foot superyacht with a private chef. ProPublica also found that Crow paid for Thomas to travel with him to the secretive men’s-only club in California, Bohemian Grove.

Yet here’s what Thomas wrote on the form:

During the preparation and filing of this report, filer sought and received guidance from his accountant and ethics counsel.

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.

Source: Harlan & Kathy Crow
Dates: July 12, 2019
Location: Bali, Indonesia
Purpose: Guests of Source
Items Paid or Provided: Food and Lodging at Hotel

Source: Harlan Crow
Dates: July 18-21, 2019
Location: Monte Rio, CA
Purpose: Guest of Source
Items Paid or Provided: Food and Lodging at Private Club

Despite consulting with an “ethics counsel,” Thomas notably did not disclose his private jet flights to and from Indonesia, or island-hopping on Crow’s yacht. (Last year, Thomas reported accepting private flights from Crow within the U.S. because, he claimed, his security detail recommended he avoid commercial travel “whenever possible,” after the Dobbs leak.) Nor does he mention travel to and from Bohemian Grove, which is the Monte Rio, California, trip. (ProPublica reported that Thomas has taken at least six undisclosed trips to Bohemian Grove, some to hang out with billionaire megadonors Charles and David Koch.)

OK, that’s Thomas. What about fellow disgusting brother, the scandal-plagued Samuel Alito, you may wonder? He asked for a 90-day extension, just like he does most years. Perhaps he and his flag-loving wife Martha Ann are too busy fighting with their neighbors for him to get things in on time.

Meanwhile, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson reported receiving four Beyoncé concert tickets from the singer herself valued at $3,700, and a book advance of nearly $900,000 for her upcoming memoir, coming out in September. Selling a book is a perfectly legal way for a justice to make money! But it is funny that Justice Brett Kavanaugh reported a pathetic-by-comparison book advance of $340,000. Unfortunately, the book is expected to include his 2018 confirmation hearing and how he became spitting mad over being credibly accused of sexual assault. Justice Kegstand’s book isn’t expected until 2025 or 2026, per Axios.

I can only imagine that Kavanaugh will argue he needs to fly by private jet for his cursed book tour.

• Senate Republicans can’t seem to get their story straight. After blocking the Right to Contraception Act, Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) said “There is no threat to access to contraception.” (Fact check: false.) Meanwhile, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said he is “leading the fight to protect the right to birth control.” Which is it, my guys? [Twitter/Congressional Record]
• Sentient patch of peeling sunburn Steve Bannon must report to prison on July 1 for contempt of Congress after he defied subpoenas from the Jan. 6 Committee. [NBC News]
• Far-right group Judicial Watch is suing an Illinois city that gave some Black residents $25,000 in reparations. They cite the legal precedent in the Supreme Court’s (gross) ruling gutting affirmative action in 2023. [Washington Post]
• The website for the Republican National Convention, which will be held in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, had a photo showing Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, instead. [Twitter]
• Indicted Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) not only filed to run for re-election as an Independent this week, Bobby Gold Bars was also caught singing in a courtroom hallway. [Associated Press/USA Today]
• Disgraced lawyer John Eastman called Donald Trump’s New York state conviction a “judicial lynching” and suggested he should appeal it to the Supreme Court. Side note: Eastman is besties with Clarence and Ginni Thomas. [Law and Crime]
• The sad little people at The Federalist chose to criticize Dolly Parton for saying of LGBTQ people that “love is love.” During Pride Month no less. [Mediaite]

This has been your weekly Barf Bag, thanks for reading!