Embattled Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas revealed he took three trips in 2022 on Republican megadonor Harlan Crow’s private plane in an annual financial disclosure form made public Thursday.
Thomas said he flew on his billionaire friend’s plane partly due to security concerns after the leak of the Supreme Court’s opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which overturned nationwide abortion rights.
Two of the three trips brought him to Crow’s hometown of Dallas, where Thomas spoke at an American Enterprise Institute conference in February 2022 and again in May 2022. Crow covered Thomas’ meals, as well.
The third trip, in July 2022, appeared to be social; Thomas lists the purpose as “guests of source.” Crow flew him to Keese Mill, New York, where the billionaire owns a vast Adirondacks estate.
Thomas accepted another trip last year, paid for by the right-wing Orrin G. Hatch Foundation, in exchange for speaking at a Salt Lake City event in March 2022.
The justice has been under fire in recent months as the extent of his friendship with Crow and other powerful interests became public. Thomas has accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of private flights, private yacht trips, luxury vacations and private school tuition for his adopted son.