Justice Thomas says wasn't required to disclose luxury vacations, follow report about trips

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas said Friday he was not required to disclose vacations paid for by a Republican mega-donor, following a news report on the matter a day earlier.

Thomas said in a statement that he was advised by colleagues on the high court and others in the federal judiciary system that such "personal hospitality from close personal friends, who did not have business before the court, was not reportable," according to the Associated Press.

The trips Thomas and wife Ginny Thomas took were paid for by mega-donor Harlan Crow, according to the report Thursday by the nonprofit investigative group ProPublica. 

Thomas in his response to the report says Crow and wife Kathy are among his and his wife's "dearest friends."

The ProPublica reported found Thomas has for more than two decades accepted luxury trips from Crow nearly every year.

A 2019 trip to Indonesia, the story states, could have cost over $500,000 had Thomas chartered the plane and yacht himself, ProPublica reports.

Supreme Court justices and other federal judges must file an annual financial disclosure report that requires them to list gifts they have received but has exemptions for hospitality from friends.

The federal judiciary last month bolstered disclosure requirements for all judges, though overnight stays at personal vacation homes owned by friends remain exempt from disclosure, the wire service also reports.

Thomas said he has always tried to comply with disclosure guidelines and that it is his "intent to follow this [new] guidance."

The conservative-leaning judge faced ethics questions last year upon the discovery that he did not recuse himself from election cases following the 2020 election cycle, considering his wife, a conservative activist, urged the Trump White House and others to challenge the election results, also according to the Associated Press.