[tomder55]

Just thought I would stipulate that up front. ProPublica has a hit piece about Thomas . One of Thomas' friends is Texas real estate billionaire Harlan Crow. Crow is a big donor to conservative causes. He likes living the billionaire life style.

For Thomas that means getting invites to his properties ;his ranch ,his resort ...all male retreats and vacations on his super yacht.

There’s evidence Thomas has taken even more trips on the superyacht. Crow often gave his guests custom polo shirts commemorating their vacations, according to staff. ProPublica found photographs of Thomas wearing at least two of those shirts. In one, he wears a blue polo shirt embroidered with the Michaela Rose’s logo and the words “March 2007” and “Greek Islands.”

Clarence Thomas Secretly Accepted Luxury Trips From GOP Donor — ProPublica

Crow penned a statement about this .

My wife Kathy and I have been friends with Justice Thomas and his wife Ginni since 1996. We are very dear friends. The hospitality we have extended to the Thomas’s over the years is no different from the hospitality we have extended to our many other dear friends. We have been most fortunate to have a great life of many friends and financial success, and we have always placed a priority on spending time with our family and friends. Justice Thomas and Ginni never asked for any of this hospitality. We have never asked about a pending or lower court case, and Justice Thomas has never discussed one, and we have never sought to influence Justice Thomas on any legal or political issue. 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. These are gatherings of friends.

Harlan Crow statement - DocumentCloud

There is no evidence that Crow received any favors in return.

A shirt commemorating the events ;a signed book by Thomas ;plenty of photos . If there was anything nefarious going on then having such evidence would be foolish.

But that did not stop the left and the compliant press from pointing the finger j'accuse .

The Compost called the revelations shocking and called on the Dems to act
Opinion | The new Clarence Thomas revelations are shocking. Democrats must act. - The Washington Post

NPR accused Thomas of non-disclosure . Well yeah there are no requirements for Supreme Court Justices to disclose this .

MediaIte called the court in crisis of the revelations .

All Out Crazy blasted his ethical standards even though we know for a fact that she accepts gifts .

Ethics panel scrutinizes AOC over ‘Tax the Rich’ dress and Met Gala ensemble | The Hill

Now Congress has specific ethics protocols . It could be argued that SCOTUS should have them too. They don't . A meaningful investigative report should've included times when other justices of the courts have accepted flights and hotel stays .

Supreme Court justices continue to rack up trips on private interest dime • OpenSecrets

Maybe it is a matter of degree ? Thomas has a wealthy friend so his vacations are more lavish ? Thomas just doesn't care what others think ?

More likely the problem with Thomas is that he is an unapologetic originalist. ProPublica points out that Thomas wants to reverse the Chevron decision that gives too much deference to decisions made by regulators . That has been a conservative ,originalist view point for years . It has nothing to do with giving favors to wealthy friends in return for yacht trips to Greece.

It can't be the vacations . Quid Pro Joe is in a position where he can dole out favor big time . None of Thomas' critics mind Quid's or the emperor's vacations at the homes of mega-rich donors.

The St. Croix vacation home Biden is staying in for free owned by billionaire Democratic donor | Daily Mail Online

Bidens spending Thanksgiving at billionaire's Nantucket home (nypost.com)

Obama, family going on eight-day Martha's Vineyard vacation | Reuters

The real story here is the left's continued campaign to smear Justce Thomas .

[tomder55]

The federal judiciary last month announced new ethics guidelines about disclosure . Thomas has said that when they are adopted he will comply with their requirements.

Meanwhile the Dems are trying to impeach the only Black Male in SCOTUS . Reeks of racism to me .

[tomder55]

update

Clarence Thomas said he was advised that he did not have to disclose his vacations with Harlan Crow because Crow did not have any business with the court .

So the "fact checkers " of the compliant press went to work and discovered that Crow did have a case.

What did they find ?

Bloomberg reviewed dozens of state and federal cases involving companies that the Crow family has owned or had a financial stake in since Thomas’ 1991 confirmation. Nearly all of these disputes played out at the trial and appellate level and didn’t reach the Supreme Court.

In January 2005, though, the court declined to hear an appeal from an architecture firm that wanted more than $25 million from Trammell Crow Residential Co. for allegedly misusing copyrighted building designs. When the court issued a one-sentence order denying the petition, there were no noted recusals — indicating that Thomas participated — and no noted dissents.

So after exhaustive research they managed to find a single case that the court did not hear . Had Thomas recused himself then it would be a tie which means the court would still not have heard the case.
This case did not involve Crow. It involved a litigant that had a family connection to Crow .