A Senate Judiciary Committee investigation found that conservative Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas failed to disclose at least 35 luxury gifts, including a free yacht trip to Russia and a private helicopter to a palace in St. Petersburg, Vladimir Putin's hometown, Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., and Ron Wyden, D-Or., said in a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland.
The letter raised the "serious possibility of tax fraud" and accused Thomas of having "secretly accepted gifts and income potentially worth millions of dollars," mostly from billionaire real estate developer Harlan Crow, who Thomas once described as being among his "dearest friends." Buried in appendix list on page 14 are the references to the Russia trips, which took place in 2003. Other gifts from Crow include "multiple instances of free private jet travel, yacht travel, and lodging," "gifts of tuition for Justice Thomas's grandnephew," "real estate transactions," "home renovations," and "free rent for Justice Thomas's mother."
“The Senate is not a prosecutorial body, and the Supreme Court has no fact-finding function of its own, making the executive role all the more important if there is ever to be any complete determination of the facts,” the letter reads.
After a bombshell ProPublica report last year that revealed the extent of Thomas' financial ties with Crow and attempts to hide it, Thomas admitted to taking three trips on a private plane owned by Crow, but did not disclose any of the other gifts.
The senators are asking Garland to launch a special counsel investigation into Thomas, with the evidence collected so far "plainly suggest[ing] that Justice Thomas has committed numerous willful violations of federal ethics and false-statement laws and raises significant questions about whether he and his wealthy benefactors have complied with their federal tax obligations."
In a separate move on Wednesday, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and a group of fellow progressives filed articles of impeachment against Thomas and Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito for failing to disclose "millions of dollars in gifts from individuals with business before the court."
