Billionaire Harlan Crow Bought Property From Clarence Thomas. The Justice Didn't Disclose the Deal.

[RandySF]

In 2014, one of Texas billionaire Harlan Crow’s companies purchased a string of properties on a quiet residential street in Savannah, Georgia. It wasn’t a marquee acquisition for the real estate magnate, just an old single-story home and two vacant lots down the road. What made it noteworthy were the people on the other side of the deal: Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and his relatives.

The transaction marks the first known instance of money flowing from the Republican megadonor to the Supreme Court justice. The Crow company bought the properties for $133,363 from three co-owners — Thomas, his mother and the family of Thomas’ late brother, according to a state tax document and a deed dated Oct. 15, 2014, filed at the Chatham County courthouse.

The purchase put Crow in an unusual position: He now owned the house where the justice’s elderly mother was living. Soon after the sale was completed, contractors began work on tens of thousands of dollars of improvements on the two-bedroom, one-bathroom home, which looks out onto a patch of orange trees. The renovations included a carport, a repaired roof and a new fence and gates, according to city permit records and blueprints.

A federal disclosure law passed after Watergate requires justices and other officials to disclose the details of most real estate sales over $1,000. Thomas never disclosed his sale of the Savannah properties. That appears to be a violation of the law, four ethics law experts told ProPublica.




https://www.propublica.org/article/clarence-thomas-harlan-crow-real-estate-scotus

[Lovie777]

1. Corrupt MF...................

he and his f up wife, I can't stand them.

[lastlib]

50. Clarence has GOT to go!

Maybe we should at least TRY to impeach if he won't go. I'm infinitely skeptical that it would succeed, but hell, try it anyway.

Hell, the repugs tried to impeach William Douglas for a heckuva lot less.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

2. Just-us for sale. Operators are standing by.

[kimbutgar]

3. Please please please I hope this takes uncle clarence down

Last edited Thu Apr 13, 2023, 08:57 PM - Edit history (1)

He is so corrupt! I can’t wait to hear his excuses for not reporting this transaction.


Seems like Mr. Crow owns his own supreme court justice slave Clarence Thomas.

[NullTuples]

74. Uncle Clearance: "We're having a 2 for 1 BLOWOUT on the shadow docket this week!"

I know it was a typo (or assume so) but it really strikes to the heart of the matter: our highest court in the land is now no more reputable than some guy who calls himself the Discount Mattress King or that guy who used to give away a free bicycle with every car stereo installed.

[Casady1]

4. Lawbreaker Thomas

Lock him up.

[orleans]

5. dun dun dun...

[Midnight Writer]

6. It bugs me that this corruption has been going on for years and is just now being exposed.

Is anyone looking into the financials of the other Justices?

[PatSeg]

15. I know what you mean

That is insane that it went on for so long. It was all there for anyone who was paying attention.

[MontanaMama]

31. Like who paid off Judge Boof's

credit card debt and his house? He owes somebody.

[BadgerMom]

67. Yep! This. ⬆️

[Midnight Writer]

70. Yes.

[Demovictory9]

7. Wow!! Clarence sure is Harlan"s pet

[NullTuples]

8. But who enforces said law, and what is the penalty for violation?

Is it enough to remove him as a Justice? No, of course not - there's only one way to do that, right? Or is there?

Does anyone ever wonder why ethics violations aren't enough to essentially fire someone from their government job once they reach a high enough level? It's enough at any lower level, but above a very high threshold those rules somehow no longer apply.

[PatSeg]

16. It appears if you rise high enough,

you really are ABOVE the law or ethics violations and there will always be some who will take advantage of that.

[NullTuples]

23. I'm no expert but that seems a fatal flaw for any civilization that allows it?

[PatSeg]

85. Definitely a fatal flaw

or at least a flaw that severely retards progress. We clearly are still a work in progress.

[Diraven]

62. He'd have to be impeached

And the Republicans in Congress would never do that.

[Scruffy1]

86. It is actually a felony,

However, the statute of limitations is set at 5 years and he got away with it. The more recent luxury trips are within the window, however. It is punishable by up to year in the joint. Only the Attorney General of the US can charge him. Good luck there. They can't even charge Trump for sedition., which was in plain sight of millions. This is just the tip of the iceberg. The fascists have been buying judges and other high officials for years. If a poorly funded group like Pro Publica can get this kind of information imagine what the billionaires can come up with for leverage. I have been convinced for years that there is a whole lot of bribery and extortion going on.
I remember when David Koch was flying his pet Supremes to his mountain retreat in Colorado. I just figured that they were there just to get their "brown paper bags."

[maxsolomon]

9. Tsk tsk

"Let me remodel your Mom's place, I wuv you guys".
"Gee thanks, personal friend who is a major political and thinktank donor."

[crickets]

65. Exactly, and the amount of ego-stroking in Crow's glib excuses is off the charts.

In a statement, Crow said he purchased Thomas’ mother’s house, where Thomas spent part of his childhood, to preserve it for posterity. “My intention is to one day create a public museum at the Thomas home dedicated to telling the story of our nation’s second black Supreme Court Justice,” he said. “I approached the Thomas family about my desire to maintain this historic site so future generations could learn about the inspiring life of one of our greatest Americans.”

Just wow.

[TygrBright]

11. hmmmm... I wonder if this is finally over the "can't ignore" line. n/t

[Gregory Peccary]

45. Nah, Pubs don't have a line for that

If this were Kegan though she'd be drawn and quartered.

[LiberalFighter]

12. That makes it worse yet.

[Hortensis]

13. Disgusting that Thomas would have Crow fix up his mother's home.

AND, separately, that he didn't do it himself.

[Fullduplexxx]

14. Yea one more thing with which he'll get away

[Celerity]

17. Lock that motherfucking traitorous, corrupt Uncle Ruckus up! His POS seditionist wife as well.

[LymphocyteLover]

18. Please Jesus! Yes!!

[malaise]

19. Bye bye uncle Thomas

The end is nigh!

[Marius25]

28. How is the end nigh? He's not going to face any consequences

[malaise]

34. And the Slobfather was never going to be indicted or arrested

That is all 😀😀

[Marius25]

35. Do you know what it takes to punish a Supreme Court justice?

[lees1975]

47. Indict his wife for her crimes.

Then make a deal. He quits.

[Marius25]

49. Lol, good luck getting Merrick Garland to go after a Justice's wife

[soldierant]

71. I realize that everything we are aware she has done

has been at the federal level... but might there be some other jurisdictin which might have a case?

[LymphocyteLover]

20. this is fucking insanity-- he needs to be impeached

if Roberts is incapable of holding the court to any sort of ethics rules

[Lonestarblue]

38. Impeachment is not even on the table because Republicans will not agree.

The only other possibilities I see are major public demands for his resignation that he can’t ignore and investigation/prosecution by the DOJ. Given everything else going on, is that likely to happen. I certainly don’t know all the laws he might have broken.

[LymphocyteLover]

60. yeah, I know it's a nonstarter. Still... even calls for resignation are nlikely to be strong enough

and the right knows if they ignore, it will blow over. They have gotten away with so much worse and there's so much endless scandal coming out in the news, this is more noise.

[Captain Zero]

21. If he only understood Stare Decis and keeping Ginni away

From Trump.

Everything would have been fine.

[2naSalit]

22. I'M SHOCKED!

shocked i say.

[llashram]

24. Appears? why can't Thomas

be removed from the court with all these shady deals and an election-denying wife. They do live in the same house and we all know these facts as written above and the wife is true.

[housecat]

29. That arrogant piece of shit and his insane wife are too exposed to last

[llashram]

32. I truly hope so

[Marius25]

30. It requires control of the House and 2/3rds of the Senate to expel a Justice

[NoMoreRepugs]

25. Rules and laws are different for the Deplorable Repugs - there are NONE.

[bucolic_frolic]

26. This has to be one of the most corrupting judiciary stories ever.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

27. Let me guess. There's a "rule" against indicting a sitting Supreme Court Justice.

He’s never going to be impeached. Why do we have these statutes if they can’t be enforced?

[ShazzieB]

87. Pretty sure there's no such rule.

The problem, as Marius25 noted, is that Dems would have to have control of the House and a 2/3 majority of the Senate to accomplish it.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

90. I'm talking indictment. As enforcement of federal criminal law.

Not a political solution such as impeachment.

Good old fashioned grand jury.

[ShazzieB]

92. Much as he deserves inictment...

Getting his ass off the court would be fantastic, regardless of anything else.

[Paladin]

33. No way this wasn't a "Quid Pro Quo" arrangement.

The "Quid" was Crow's purchase of the Thomas properties. NOW: What's the "Quo" that Clarence Thomas delivered to Crow, in return? It's bound to come out...

[Zeitghost]

88. Crow got a house and three lots

The Thomas family got 130K. We’re going to have a hard time convincing anyone that’s not a fair transaction. To be honest, I would think the childhood home of a SC Justice might be worth a bit more and maybe Old Clarence isn’t the best negotiator and was outclassed by the real estate mogul.

[LiberalFighter]

36. Was there any money exchanged under the table for that deal?

[LiberalFighter]

37. Need to keep putting pressure on Thomas.

Make sure people ask the question. How can a Supreme Court justice rule on cases if they don't follow the law or rules?

[Mysterian]

39. Laws, shmaws

Will Corrupt Clarence plead ignorance of the law once again?

[Bristlecone]

40. What the ever-lovin F is going on with this guy and this court

The corruption in this country is sickening.

[Kali]

41. a house and 2 lots for 133,363?

doesn't seem like much of a bribe. fixed up the property for "Mom" - is there more to it? the vacations seem like a much stronger case to me.

[peppertree]

44. I bet that's just the "recorded" amount

[Tom Rinaldo]

51. It was almost twenty years ago. In many areas, prices were a lot cheaper then

And obviously the house where his mother lived could be considered a "fixer upper." And "fixed up" it was. How nice for his mom, assuming she continued to live there at a low rent.

[Kali]

55. wasn't even 10 years ago

I suppose prices could have been lower, no idea but seemed low to me

[Tom Rinaldo]

57. Thanks for correcting the date. I obviously skimmed it wrong.

Likely the prices were lower, at least to some extent. Housing costs have risen a lot in recent years, but I guess a lot depends on "the neighborhood" how much they could have risen in that time period. The price itself could have been fair, but the way it was all handled is at least suspicious if not illegal.

[Kali]

58. it does sound like somebody was trying to get around something with multiple names on deeds

but to be fair that happens all the time with parents and kids. it just didn't seem like enough money to be a decent bribe...then again ol' Clar isn't the brightest bulb so maybe he got ripped off on top of being compromised.

[Tom Rinaldo]

69. Thomas ain't brilliant, but he isn't an idiot either

My guess is there never was any explicit bribe in return for a specific judicial outcome. The money involved is peanuts for a billionaire, probably it was more of a "never forget who your friends are" gesture from him to Thomas. I'm sure repeated "acts of kindness" did the trick adequately with Thomas, especially with vacations in the hundreds of thousands thrown in. When Supreme Court Justices are on the market, I'm sure the cost to lease one isn't exorbitant for someone with billions.

[kskiska]

42. He'll claim that no one "advised" him to report it.

[UTUSN]

43. K&R

[Joinfortmill]

46. Resign

[calimary]

61. Yes. Resign. Unfortunately he won't.

I suspect he doesn’t think he’s done anything wrong.

“Why WOULDN’T a billionaire friend of mine just pick up the tab for me/shower me with gift vacations (gift? Or GRIFT?) and other freebies and un-earned runs and buy my mom a nice house?”

[lees1975]

48. About the only thing that will have much effect on him is to keep the pressure up.

At the very least, it should motivate enough voters to get control of Congress back. And perhaps, though not likely, to force his resignation from the court.

But what I don't get is that if this is truly against the law, shouldn't DOJ, or even a local DA, be able to convene a grand jury and prosecute through the courts?

[Hekate]

52. One law for the common man, another for the king

Or as I learned from practically Day One at DU some 22 years ago: IOKIYAR
It’s okay if you are a Republican

[Warpy]

53. With all that's coming out, he's going to have a hell of an IRS tab to pay

and the IRS has never been particularly impressed with either pomp or titles when it comes to paying taxes.

It can't come soon enough.

[Zeitghost]

75. None of these stories

Have anything to do with taxes. Why would the IRS get involved?

[Warpy]

76. Unreported income

The IRS takes a very dim view of it and piles penalties on top of principal and generous interest.

[Zeitghost]

78. None of these recent stories involve unreported income to the IRS

There may not even be income in this one depending on Thomas' basis in the property.


This involves undisclosed financial reporting by judges and federal officials. It has nothing to do with taxes, it's about public disclosure.

[Warpy]

83. Vacations, gifts, income from a property sale?

They sure as hell do.

[Zeitghost]

84. No, they don't

Gifts are not taxable income for the recipient. They may or may not be taxable for the giver, depending on certain individual and lifetime thresholds.

Income from the sale of a property may or may not be taxable, depending on the basis you have in the property and other details. But Thomas is not being accused nor is there any evidence to suggest he did not pay any taxes he might have owed on the sale of this property. He is being accused of not listing the transaction on public official disclosure forms.

[Catherine Vincent]

54. Thomas and his cult wife will pay no consequences

I hope I'm wrong.

[NBachers]

56. Geez, why doesn't anything like this ever happen to me?

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

63. yeah, how do we get a billionaire friend to buy stuff from us, over market value

to fly us around the world

[Zeitghost]

79. Was it over market value?

I don't have any knowledge of that specific real estate market. But a home and three lots for under 200K doesn't seem like it would be high in many places.

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

81. Harlan bought another home and lot (same street) for $40K, paid 133k for Thomas 1 home, 2 lots

[Zeitghost]

82. Interesting

The other purchase seems comparable. But his purchasing other homes on the block makes it seem like he may have had a legitimate interest in the area for investment.

[tanyev]

59. Wow, I had no idea multi-billion dollar Crow Holdings did single residential remodels!

I should give them a call about my 1900 sq ft 20 year old house. It could use some freshening. I’m even located in North Texas so they wouldn’t have to send a crew all the way to Georgia!

[Vogon_Glory]

64. Didn't Justice Abe Fortas resign for less?

Just a reminder for Rethugly trying to explain away Justice Thomas’ actions.

[crickets]

66. Excellent reminder. nt

[spanone]

77. Here you go...

Abe Fortas

Ethics scandal and resignation[edit]

Fortas remained an associate justice, but in 1969, a new scandal arose. Fortas had accepted a US$20,000 (equivalent to $148,000 in 2021[40]) retainer from the family foundation of Wall Street financier Louis Wolfson, a friend and former client, in January 1966. In return for unspecified advice, it was to pay Fortas $20,000 a year for the rest of Fortas's life (and then pay his widow for the rest of her life).[41] However, in order to avoid apparent impropriety, Fortas returned the money the same year and received no further payments.[42] Fortas was not unique in receiving this type of funding and other Justices had similar arrangements. William O. Douglas, Fortas's mentor, likewise received funding from casino magnate Albert Parvin through his own foundation.[43] The American Bar Association revamped its rules as a result of the Wolfson affair, revising circumstances under which judges should not accept outside income.[3]

Wolfson was under investigation for securities violations at the time, and it was alleged that he expected that his arrangement with Fortas would help him stave off criminal charges or help him secure a presidential pardon. He asked Fortas to help him secure a pardon from Johnson, which Fortas claimed that he did not do. Fortas recused himself from Wolfson's case when it came before the Court.[3]

In May 1969, Life magazine chronicled Fortas's tangled relations with Wolfson. The revelation engendered calls for Fortas to be impeached, and motivated Richard Nixon, who knew that Fortas's resignation would enable the appointment of a more conservative Justice, ordered the Justice Department to investigate Fortas. Nixon was unsure if an investigation or prosecution was legal, but was convinced by then-Assistant Attorney General and future Chief Justice William Rehnquist that it would be.[24][44] Chief Justice Earl Warren (who, like the other Justices, was unaware of Nixon's actions) urged Fortas to resign to protect the reputation of the Court and avoid impeachment proceedings, as did Justice Hugo Black. However, when Fortas said it would "kill" his wife, Black changed his mind, realized that Nixon wanted Fortas off the Court for political reasons, and urged Fortas not to resign.[41][24][44] Nonetheless, Fortas ultimately decided resignation would be best for him and for his wife's legal career after Attorney General John N. Mitchell threatened to prosecute him, and potentially investigate his wife for tax evasion.[24][44] On the subject of his resignation, William J. Brennan later said, "We were just stunned." Fortas later said he "resigned to save Douglas," another justice who was being investigated for a similar scandal at the same time.[3] Fortas resigned from the Court on May 14, 1969.[1] When the Justice Department heard the news, the Attorney General's office celebrated, and Nixon called to congratulate them.[24][44]

In 1970, Louis Wolfson surreptitiously taped a private telephone call with Fortas. The transcript of this call was disclosed by Wolfson's lawyer, Bernard Fensterwald, to Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward in 1977. The Washington Post subsequently published several excerpts from the transcript, including language suggesting that Fortas might indeed have spoken with President Johnson about a pardon for Wolfson, but there is no evidence that it was a quid pro quo rather than a voluntary intervention for a friend. Wolfson was convicted of violating federal securities laws later that year and spent time in prison.[45]

Fortas's seat on the Supreme Court was vacant until June 1970, when Harry Blackmun was sworn into office.[1] This was Nixon's third attempt to fill the vacancy. His earlier failed nominations were of Clement Haynsworth in September 1969 and G. Harrold Carswell in February 1970.[20]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abe_Fortas

[republianmushroom]

68. What seems to be the problem here ? I'm a supreme court justice.

Don't you folks get it. I'm above this petty crap.

[H2O Man]

72. Recommended.

It's time for the DOJ to take a close look at this guy. As corrupt as he obviously is, being on the USSC doesn't mean he hasn't gone beyond being unethical. There are likely crimes he needs to be prosecuted for, since he can't be impeached & removed at this point in time.

[FakeNoose]

73. Clarence and Ginni were REALLY hoping to keep this quiet

Now they're going to two years in a row - Scoundrels of the Year!

[Blue Owl]

80. Long Dong Silver did a bad, baaaaaaad thing

[proud patriot]

89. please lord let this take Thomas DOWN

[BeckyDem]

91. Who else on the court is not disclosing it?

Looks like Thomas is indicting his buddies/colleagues unwittingly.

Thomas said: “Early in my tenure at the court, I sought guidance from my colleagues and others in the judiciary, and was advised that this sort of personal hospitality from close personal friends, who did not have business before the court, was not reportable.”

https://www.theguardian.com/law/2023/apr/07/clarence-thomas-statement-undisclosed-gifts-supreme-court