Press Releases
Timeline Shows Clarence and Ginni Thomas Benefitted from Crow Over Decades
New analysis reveals decades of Thomases’ lavish lifestyle, bankrolled by Harlan Crow
WASHINGTON, DC – Following last week’s breaking news of decades-worth of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’s undisclosed luxury travel and gifts from billionaire megadonor Harlan Crow, government watchdog Accountable.US today released a more complete timeline of Clarence and wife Ginni Thomas’s financial benefits.
Clarence Thomas has not only cozied up to billionaire megadonor Harlan Crow for decades, their close relationship has been defined by decades-worth of corruption. Thomas clearly sees his position on our nation’s highest court as a chance to upgrade his own lifestyle by befriending a major right-wing donor and reaping the spoils. This is an unprecedented story of corruption at the highest levels, and those involved must be held accountable.”
Accountable.US president Kyle Herrig.
Timeline highlights:
- 2001: Harlan Crow and wife Kathy give Thomas a bible once owned by Frederick Douglass, worth $19,000. That same year, Crow donated $175,000 for a new “Clarence Thomas wing” at the Justice’s childhood library in Pin Point, Georgia.
- 2004: Thomas stops reporting gifts following a Los Angeles Times piece examining gifts received by Thomas and other Supreme Court justices. Over the following two decades, Thomas reports only two gifts — one of which comes from Crow.
- 2008: Crow bankrolls plans for a historical museum commemorating Thomas’s childhood community in Pin Point, Georgia, spending $1.5 million on land to serve as the site of the museum.
- 2009: Crow donates $500,000 to conservative political advocacy group Liberty Central, founded by Ginni Thomas.
- 2018: The Harlan R. Crow Foundation, Inc. donates $105,000 to Yale Law School for the “Justice Thomas Portrait Fund.”
The full timeline can be found HERE.
Last week, Accountable.US released new research revealing that Republican members of the Senate Judiciary Committee have collectively received over $450,000 in donations from Harlan Crow himself. Accountable.US also fact-checked Clarence Thomas’s defensive statement and highlighted the Leonard Leo link to this example of unprecedented corruption.