WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden subpoenaed billionaire attorney and Republican Party donor Harlan Crow for details Monday about exactly when Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas boarded Crow’s private jet and yacht, as well as whether the donor claimed those trips as tax deductions.
The questions from the Oregon Democrat follow repeated statements by President Joe Biden, Democratic lawmakers and ethics watchdogs who have been sounding the alarm for months about conflicts of interest among members of the Supreme Court.
Research reports revealed luxury trips, tuition and real estate gifts to Thomas or members of his family, as well as public political statements by the justices or their spouses, including an upside-down American flag flown outside Justice Samuel Alito’s home following the violent riot at the U.S. Capitol following the 2020 election.
Wyden, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, sent letter On Monday, Michael Bopp, Crow’s lawyer, requested the documents as part of the committee’s investigation into undisclosed luxury trips Thomas made by a conservative donor, including a round-trip flight from Hawaii to New Zealand in 2010 for Thomas and his wife and a separate trip to Russia.
“The possibility that Mr. Crow could secretly gift a sitting Supreme Court justice and then, with impunity, reduce his taxable income by millions of dollars demands legislative scrutiny,” Wyden wrote.
The Senate Finance Committee has jurisdiction over tax policy.
“Tax Program”
Citing the investigative ProPublica report and prior correspondence from Bopp about the exploit of Crow’s yacht, Wyden questioned why the entity that owned Crow’s yacht, Michaela Rose, had previously been organized as an S corporation and had reported “persistent losses and no profits for a decade.”
Wyden wrote that the situation “appears to be an attempt to deduct the costs of operating and maintaining a pleasure yacht used solely for Crow family purposes.”
“I want to understand the means and scope of Mr. Crow’s undisclosed generosity to Judge Thomas to provide information on several pieces of legislation the committee is working on,” Wyden wrote, adding that changes to the tax code and audit requirements for Supreme Court justices are on his list of bills.
Crow’s representative told States Newsroom in an emailed statement Monday that Crow’s attorneys have already addressed Wyden’s questions, which “have no legal basis and are intended solely to harass an ordinary citizen.”
“Congress has no role in tax enforcement. Mr. Crow and his firms are in good standing with the IRS. He has always complied with applicable tax law, as advised by the national accounting firms that serve as his tax advisors. It is disturbing that Senator Wyden is abusing the authority of his committee as part of a politically motivated campaign against the Supreme Court,” the spokesman wrote.
ProPublica was the first to report on Thomas’ long-standing friendship with Crowe. in April 2023Crow, a real estate developer, has not been directly involved in any Supreme Court cases since Thomas joined, although the court occasionally takes up cases that could impact the broader real estate industry.
There is no enforceable standard requiring judges to recuse themselves from cases in which they may have a conflict of interest.
An appeal for a thorough reconstruction of the Supreme Court’s ethical principles
Wyden is not the only voice criticizing Thomas’s acceptance of donations from a prominent political donor.
Biden Congress called on in delayed July to “restore faith” in the court by passing an enforceable code of ethics and term limits for Supreme Court justices. U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana said any legislation on the issue was “dead from the start” in the Republican-led House.
Efforts to pass ethics legislation in the Democratic-majority U.S. Senate have been stalled for more than a year. Bill sponsored by Rhode Island Democratic Senator Sheldon Whitehouse advanced from the Senate Judiciary Committee along party lines in July 2023, but has not yet been taken up by the chamber.
In November 2023, the Senate Judiciary Committee he voted subpoena Crow and conservative political activist Leonard Leo to testify for information about luxury trips given to Thomas and Alito.
In June, the Judiciary Committee revealed information shared by Crow, which listed Thomas’ undisclosed trips, including three domestic flights on a private jet, as well as more details about a recently disclosed yacht trip to Indonesia in 2019.
Crow’s representative said Crow “was pleased to have reached an agreement with the Senate Judiciary Committee — the committee that has jurisdiction over the judicial branch — to conclude the investigation under an agreement that provided relevant information.”
According to analysis In a filing with the Supreme Court regarding donation disclosures, the advocacy group Fix the Court said Thomas received donations and incurred travel expenses totaling more than $4 million between 2004 and 2023.
