On April 6, 2023, ProPublica, a nonprofit organization, published an expose on Justice Clarence Thomas and his billionaire friend Harlan Crow. For over 20 years, Thomas had been accepting gifts of lavish vacations, private jet trips and exclusive retreats which he failed to disclose. Although there are few restrictions on gifts justices can accept, according to the Supreme Court’s code of conduct, justices are required to avoid even “the appearance of impropriety”. Virginia Canter, former government ethics lawyer said Thomas “seems to have completely disregarded his higher ethical obligations.”
Furthermore, billionaire and real estate developer GOP Harlan Crow and his firm have not appeared before the Supreme Court since Thomas became justice. According to ProPublica, Crow has deep connections in conservative politics and has long supported efforts to move the judiciary to the right by donating over $10 million in publicly disclosed donations.
In a similar report published by ProPublica, another friendship came to light. Justice Samuel Alito and hedge fund billionaire Paul Singer. In early July 2008, Singer flew Alito on a private jet for an expensive paid fishing trip in Alaska which the justice had failed to mention in his annual financial disclosure for that year. According to Propublica, after a decade-long struggle between Singer’s hedge fund and the Nation of Argentina, the Supreme Court ruled in Singer's favour in a 7-1 majority which included Justice Alito’s vote, who did not recuse himself from the case. Singer’s hedge fund was ultimately paid $2.4 billion.
In response, Justice Clarence Thomas said in a statement that he didn’t disclose the trips with Harlan Crow owing to the fact that he was advised “personal hospitality” from a close personal friend did not need to be reported. Stephen Gillers, Professor at NYU observes Thomas’ failure to disclose this information is ”arguably legal, the key word being arguably."
Nevertheless, the code of judicial ethics has been updated to include rules on reporting any and all types of gifts and hospitality for federal judges since March 2023. Additionally, Justice Samuel Alito published an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, claiming ProPublica misled its readers and he didn’t know about Singer’s connection to the cases or feel he had to disclose the trip.
Publication of the ProPublica report immediately incited a call for action by the Senate Judiciary Committee to advance legislation that would require the Supreme Court to adopt a formal ethics code.
In response to ProPublica, Senate Judiciary Chairman Dick Durbin argued "the highest court in the land shouldn't have the lowest ethical standards.”
On July 20, The Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal and Transparency act of 2023, with backing from more than two dozen senate democrats was implemented. The legislation would now require The Supreme Court to assume a code of conduct for the justices and implement procedures to handle complaints of judicial misconduct.
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