US Supreme Court judge says he did not need to disclose lavish gifts

US Supreme Court justice Clarence Thomas insisted on Friday that he had been advised by “colleagues and others in the judiciary” that he did not have to publicly disclose gifts and travel funded by a wealthy conservative donor.

The statement from the judge comes a day after US news organisation ProPublica revealed that Thomas had accepted invitations from Harlan Crow, a Texas billionaire and Republican donor, to stay at his resort and travel on his private jet and yacht.

The news outlet alleged that Thomas accepted luxury vacations from the Dallas real estate developer for more than two decades without reporting the gifts on financial disclosures.

The 74-year-old conservative justice said he had followed guidance from others at the Supreme Court and believed he did not need to disclose the gifts, describing Crow and his wife Kathy as among his “dearest friends”. 

“Early in my tenure at the 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,” Thomas said.

“I have endeavoured to follow that counsel throughout my tenure, and have always sought to comply with the disclosure guidelines.”

The Judicial Conference of the United States, which makes policy for the country’s federal courts, last month adopted tighter rules requiring justices to disclose more of their activities, including travel by private jet and stays at hotels, resorts and hunting lodges. Stays at personal vacation homes remain exempt from reporting requirements, however.

On Friday, Thomas noted the rule changes and said it was his “intent to follow this guidance in future”.

According to ProPublica, Thomas has for two decades typically spent a week each summer at Crow’s invitation-only 105-acre lakeside resort in the Adirondack Mountains in upstate New York. The property features three boathouses, a clay tennis court and a life-size replica of Hagrid’s Hut, which served as a home for a Harry Potter character.

Thomas also spent time at Crow’s ranch in east Texas and at an exclusive all-male retreat in California, the news outlet said.

In a statement, Crow said the hospitality extended to Thomas and his wife Ginni “over the years” was “no different from the hospitality we have extended to many of our other dear friends”. 

Crow said he had never asked Thomas about a “pending or lower court case”, and that Thomas had never discussed one.

“We have never sought to influence justice Thomas on any legal or political issue,” Crow said in a statement. “More generally, I am unaware of any of our friends ever lobbying or seeking to influence justice Thomas on any case, and I would never invite anyone who I believe had any intention of doing that.”