Clarence Thomas secretly went on lavish vacations in luxury jets and superyachts paid for by a GOP megadonor, report reveals

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US Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has reportedly been taking secret lavish vacations on luxury jets and superyachts paid for by a GOP megadonor for years without disclosing them, according to a bombshell ProPublica report.

Thomas, a conservative who joined the nation’s highest court in 1991, has accepted the extravagant trips from real estate magnate and Republican donor Harlan Crow nearly every year for more than two decades, ProPublica reported, citing flight records, internal documents, and interviews. 

According to the report, Thomas has vacationed with Crow on his 162-foot yacht around the world and has flown around on Crow’s Bombardier Global 5000 jet.

A June 2019 Indonesia vacation that Thomas and his wife went on, thanks to Crow, could have cost more than an estimated $500,000 if Thomas chartered the yacht and plane himself, according to the report.

A Supreme Court spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment by Insider on Thursday. 

Crow, in a statement to ProPublica, said he has been friends with Thomas and his wife, Ginni, since 1996 and said: “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.”

“Justice Thomas and Ginni never asked for any of this hospitality,” Crow said. 

“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,” he added.