News broke this week that United States Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has received a long list of undisclosed gifts and trips from a prominent Republican donor — including artworks and objects of cultural significance.
According to reporting by ProPublica, Thomas has accepted gifts or donations on his behalf from real estate developer and leading conservative donor Harlan Crow for the last two decades. Today, Thomas said in a statement sent to CNN that “colleagues and others in the judiciary” advised that reporting these gifts was unnecessary, adding that guidelines for judges on personal trips and presents were recently changed.
Among the gifts allegedly donated to or on behalf of Thomas include a $19,000 bible that belonged to Frederick Douglass; Montreal-based illustrator Sharif Tarabay’s painting of the justice and his wife, Virginia “Ginni” Thomas (recently scrutinized over connections to the January 6 insurrection); and $105,000 to Yale Law School for the “Justice Thomas Portrait Fund,” according to tax filings reviewed by ProPublica.
But the strangest is arguably the seven-foot-tall, 1,800-pound bronze of Sister Mary Virgilius Reidy, a nun who taught Thomas in eighth grade, which was apparently not a gift to Thomas directly but rather dedicated on his behalf to New Jersey’s Maryrest Cemetery. The granite base is reportedly inscribed with a phrase spoken by Sister Virgilius to Thomas: “We lived with you, and you knew we loved you.”
Per ProPublica, Thomas and Crow flew on Crow’s jet to the cemetery for the dedication ceremony on the weekend of October 16, 2021. “This extraordinary statue is dedicated to you sisters,” Thomas said addressing the crowd and thanking the donors — Crow and his wife — for paying for it.
These expensive gifts have raised alarms for legal ethicists, conduct experts, and other politicians who allege Thomas may have violated principles designed to keep justices from becoming politically corrupt. On Twitter, US Senator for Connecticut and Democratic Party member Chris Murphy wrote that this was “the clearest, most brazen violation of judicial ethics you can imagine.”
About the gifts and trip, Crow told ProPublica that he has never asked about a “pending or lower court case” and is unaware of his friends trying to lobby the Supreme Court Justice. He maintains that the gifts are just another hospitable gesture that honors Thomas.
“On a number of occasions, we have made contributions to projects celebrating the life and legacy of Justice Thomas, just as we have done with other great leaders and historically significant figures,” said Crow.
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