It’s not the first time that Clarence Thomas has made headlines with his closeness to a major conservative donor. The judge and his wife have previously used his private jet and yacht.
After public criticism of several private trips at the expense of a conservative billionaire, the influential US judge Clarence Thomas has presented a statement of accounts. In the report released yesterday by the country’s Supreme Court, the lawyer disclosed flights on a plane owned by real estate mogul Harlan Crow and hotel bookings at his expense. The ultra-conservative judge justified the controversial practice by saying that he had been advised not to fly on scheduled flights for safety reasons. The background is his negative attitude to abortion rights and the reaction of violent leftists to it.
At the Supreme Court, whose nine judges are appointed for life and pass judgments that are groundbreaking in socio-political terms, Thomas is considered a voice on the far right. Especially when it comes to contentious issues that touch on Christian values and polarize people in a similar way, such as the right to an abortion, he usually takes strictly conservative positions.
The 75-year-old was all the more criticized when reports about donated trips and the acceptance of other favors became public in the spring. According to investigative research by “ProPublica”, Thomas’ luxury trips were financed for years by Harlan Crow, a major donor to conservative projects. As an example, ProPublica listed a trip to Indonesia in 2019 that Thomas and his wife used Ginni Crow’s yacht and private jet. The fact that the judge was silent for a long time and did not take a position made the criticism all the louder.
Source: Stern
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