'Utterly despicable': Clarence Thomas ripped after disclosing billionaire-funded Bali trip
Outrage erupted Friday over Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas's latest financial disclosure form, which detailed a pair of billionaire-funded trips to Bali and a luxury California club.
Billionaire conservative Harlan Crow — a prominent American businessman and real estate developer, who serves as the chairman and former CEO of Crow Holdings — paid for Thomas's 2019 trips. The Washington Post first reported the disclosures. Thomas's 2023 disclosure form included food and lodging for trips to Indonesia and Bohemian Grove club in California, according to the report. Both were included in a ProPublica investigation last year.
Social media immediately erupted following the report, with some users even calling for a criminal investigation in Thomas's actions.
"I’m sorry. It’s long past time for there to be a comprehensive criminal investigation, and congressional investigation, of Justice Thomas and his finances and his taxes," George T. Conway III, an attorney and contributing writer at The Atlantic, wrote Friday on X in response to the news. "What he has taken, and what he has failed to disclose, is beyond belief, and has been so for quite some time."
Another X user wrote that Thomas and Sam Alito — who was granted an extension on this year's form — "made a mockery out of America’s legal system" as well as the Constitution and the country.
"Utterly despicable," the user tweeted.
Another said "corruption pays" and one user questioned why anti-corruption laws aren't being enforced. Some called for congressional hearings to address "who owns" conservative justices, and the prominent @MuellerSheWrote account said Thomas "must RESIGN."
Thomas's disclosure Friday comes after investigations found he failed for years to disclose that Crow paid for his ritzy vacations and private jet trips.
In Thomas' 2022 financial disclosure report, which covered that entire year, the Supreme Court justice revealed that Crow paid for private flights on two separate occasions where he served as a keynote speaker at an American Enterprise Institute conference. Additionally, Thomas revealed that Crow paid for Thomas's transportation, meals, and lodging while Thomas was a guest of Crow's from July 7-13, 2022, in Keese Mill, New York.