Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Clarence Thomas reported thousands of dollars in income from real estate company that doesn’t exist anymore

The SCOTUS member is under scrutiny for financial disclosures after his relationship with GOP megadonor Harlan Crow was revealed

Josh Marcus
San Francisco
Sunday 16 April 2023 12:24 EDT
Comments
Clarence Thomas didn't disclose real estate sale to GOP megadonor

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Over the last two decades, Justice Clarence Thomas reportedly failed to accurately report hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of income from a family holding company and claimed rents from a company that no longer exists, according to The Washington Post, citing state records and federal disclosures.

The high court justice’s financial disclosure reports claim between $50,000 and $100,000 of income from Ginger, Ltd., Partnership, a Nebraska real estate firm, that was dissolved in 2006. That’s the same year the assets and properties of the firm, founded in the 1980s by the family of his wife Virginia “Ginni” Thomas, were moved to a new company, Ginger Holdings, LLC.

The revelation comes as the Supreme Court justice is under intense scrutiny for his ethical and financial conduct, following reporting from ProPublica earlier this month that Mr Thomas accepted lavish vacations from conservative Texas billionaire and Republican donor Harlan Crow. The outlet also reported that Mr Crow bought a group of properties from Justice Thomas in Georgia, which the jurist failed to disclose, a likely violation of federal ethics laws requiring judges to report most real estate sales worth more than $1,000.

“Any presumption in favor of Thomas’s integrity and commitment to comply with the law is gone. His assurances and promises cannot be trusted. Is there more? What’s the whole story? The nation needs to know,” Stephen Gillers, a legal ethics expert at New York University, told the Post, arguing the integrity of the Supreme Court is now in “serious jeopardy.”

The Independent has contacted the Supreme Court and a lawyer for Ms Thomas for comment.

Justice Thomas and Mr Crow have both defended their relationship as proper.

"Early in my tenure at the (Supreme) Court, I sought guidance from my colleagues and others in the judiciary, and was advised that this sort of personal hospitality from close personal friends, who did not have business before the Court, was not reportable," Mr Thomas said in a statement earlier this month.

"As friends do, we have joined them on a number of family trips during the more than quarter century we have known them," he added.

Mr Crow told ProPublica he "never sought to influence Justice Thomas on any legal or political issue."

It’s not the first time the private activities of the Thomas family have raised questions about the Supreme Court justice’s position.

Following the 2020 election, Ms Thomas privately urged Trump White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows not to have Donald Trump concede the election, reiterating wild conspiracy theories and telling the official: “It takes time for the army who is gathering for his back."

She later told the congressional January 6 committee she regrets the “tone and content” of those messages.

In 2011, Justice Thomas, under scrutiny from watchdog groups, updated years of disclosure forms to include the fact that Ms Thomas, a conservative activist, earned more then $686,000 in income from the conservative Heritage Foundation between 2003 and 2007, a discrepancy Mr Thomas attributed to “a misunderstanding of filing instructions.”

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in