A friend of Clarence Thomas says there is well-documented evidence that the Supreme Court justice did not transgress judicial ethics rules by not disclosing vacation trips with his friend Harlan Crow, a billionaire businessman and GOP donor.
A ProPublica investigation published in April found that Thomas’ close friendship with real estate developer Crow allowed him to accompany the Texas billionaire on luxury vacations on his private jet and yacht, as well as free stays on Crow’s vast vacation property, among other perks.
Mark Paoletta, who has vigorously defended Thomas in the weeks after he came under scrutiny from Senate Democrats who said he was in violation of court ethics laws for those trips, said in a series of tweets that Thomas has been in compliance with governing ethics rules and that there is a paper trail to back that up.
