Justice Clarence Thomas discloses 2019 trips paid for by Texas billionaire 

WASHINGTON (CN) — Justice Clarence Thomas amended his 2019 financial disclosure reports on Friday to include two trips paid for by real estate mogul Harlan Crow, acknowledging for the first time the trips at the center of an ethics debacle at the high court.

Crow paid for food and lodging during both trips, Thomas admitted. The George H.W. Bush appointee said he reviewed his prior filings after reports that he violated disclosure laws by omitting luxury vacations footed by billionaires. On Thursday, a report revealed Thomas had disclosed only around 8% of the millions of dollars’ worth of gifts he has received over the last 20 years.

Last year the only gifts Thomas reported were two photo albums worth $2,000 from Terrance and Barbara Giroux. Terrance Giroux is the executive director at the Horatio Alger Association, an exclusive club that connected Thomas with wealthy individuals.

Thomas’s disclosure was just one of eight released on Friday. Justice Samuel Alito was granted a 90-day extension to file his report.

The filings cover income, reimbursements and gifts received by the justices in 2023. Topping the justices’ pickings for the year were book deals, which brought in hundreds of thousands of dollars for several justices.

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson reported receiving almost $900,000 for a book deal. Book royalties also added a chunk of change to the justices’ pockets: Justice Brett Kavanaugh reported $340,000 in royalties, Justice Neil Gorsuch reported over $250,000 in royalties from two books and Justice Sonia Sotomayor earned almost $87,000 from her books.

Sotomayor also reported about $2,000 in income for an animated TV episode.

Jackson was the only other justice to report receiving gifts in 2023. The Biden appointee’s loot totaled $16,000 and included four concert tickets from Beyonce Knowles-Carter and two pieces of art for her chambers.

Thomas was the only justice to report free vacations, but several other justices disclosed expense-paid travel for teaching and speaking engagements.

Notre Dame Law School footed the bill for multiple justices’ travel. Justices Amy Coney Barrett, Elena Kagan and Brett Kavanaugh all took trips paid for by the school. Barrett and Kavanaugh reported teaching seminars in London. Barrett and Kagan also accepted transportation and lodging expenses for trips to the university’s campus.

Both Barrett and Kavanaugh also received teaching income from Notre Dame. Barrett’s side gig as an adjunct professor earned her almost $15,000, while Kavanaugh received $25,000.

Harvard University, the Saint Thomas More Society and the University of Minnesota paid for Barrett to attend various events.

Harvard also paid for Sotomayor’s trip to Cambridge to judge a moot court and meet with students. The Dwight D. Opperman Foundation flew the Obama appointee out to Los Angeles at the end of June to present the Justice Ginsberg Woman of Leadership award.

Jackson reported receiving transportation, meals and lodging for trips to Massachusetts, Indiana and Alabama for speaking events. The Biden appointee noted that these events were attended for professional purposes.

Gorsuch earned almost $30,000 for teaching at George Mason University. He reported membership in the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation and the National Constitution Center. The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation paid for three trips Gorsuch took to Williamsburg, Virginia for board of trustee meetings.

The Trump appointee also received paid trips to the United Kingdom and Portugal: The Federalist Society paid for a February trip to London and Oxford, and George Mason University paid for a July trip to Lisbon. Both trips were part of educational programs.

Several justices reported rental income. Chief Justice John Roberts got between $15,000 and $50,000 in rent from his Maine cottage. Sotomayor reported income between $5,000 and $15,000 from each of her two rental properties in New York and Florida, respectively. Sotomayor noted that her Margate, Florida, property was a personal residence that she converted to a rental last year.

Kagan reported a little over $4,000 in income from a non-reportable mortgage entered into a prior year.

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