A timeline of Justice Thomas’s wild summer of 2019
Now that the Supreme Court has released its final decisions of the year, the justices are off on summer vacation—and the American people are left to wonder: Where are they headed? And who’s paying?
If past summer recesses are any indication, Justice Clarence Thomas could have a summer full of travel on private jets paid for by his millionaire and billionaire friends. To take summer 2019 as just one example, he hopscotched from DC to Indonesia to an exclusive all-male resort in California to a Nebraska football game to his friend’s ranch outside of Jackson Hole.
Just last month, five years after he took the trips, Justice Thomas finally amended his financial disclosure reports to include certain “food and lodging” portions of his trips to Bali and Bohemian Grove after they were reported by ProPublica, but he has yet to disclose the private jet travel or yachting excursions he took on those trips or any part of his trips to Nebraska and Wyoming.
As CREW noted in a criminal complaint to the DOJ last year, and an updated complaint sent last month, that appears to violate the Ethics in Government Act.
Here’s a timeline of Justice Thomas’s wild summer of 2019:
Jun 27, 2019
Supreme Court releases final decisions of 2019.
Jun 29, 2019
Justice Thomas and his wife Ginni Thomas fly on a private jet paid for by Harlan Crow to Indonesia.
Jul 01, 2019
The Thomases go on an eight-day excursion around Indonesia on Harlan Crow’s yacht along with Crow, his wife and Mark Paoletta.
Jul 09, 2019
Crow reports private jet travel for Thomas from Indonesia back to DC. The private jet and yachting portions of this trip alone would have cost Thomas roughly $500,000, nearly double his yearly Supreme Court salary.
Jul 12, 2024
Thomas reports hotel stay paid for by Crow in Bali (this timeline doesn’t line up and merits investigation).
Jul 18, 2019
Thomas flies on a private jet to Santa Rosa, California paid for by Harlan Crow.
Jul 18, 2019
From July 18-21, Thomas attends Bohemian Grove, an exclusive all-male summit paid for by Harlan Crow. This is a “two-week party held in the Sonoma County redwoods every July” where “wine, sometimes at $500 a bottle, flows freely, and late at night, members consume clam chowder and chili by the gallon.”
Jul 21, 2019
Thomas flies on a private jet back to Washington, DC paid for by Harlan Crow.
Aug 31, 2019
Over Labor Day weekend, Thomas flies on a private jet to Nebraska paid for by David Sokol.
Aug 31, 2019
The Thomases attend the home opener football game at University of Nebraska paid for by David Sokol, along with Mark Paoletta. Sokol “arranged for the group to attend the football and volleyball games with all-access passes. Clarence Thomas met with the football team the day before the game. The group walked out of the tunnel before kickoff.”
Sep 01, 2019
The Thomases flew with Sokol on a private jet to Sokol’s Paintbrush Ranch outside Jackson Hole, Wyoming, where they “fished, rafted on the Snake River and sat by a campfire overlooking the Teton Range with the other couples. At one point, the Paolettas serenaded the justice with a song they wrote about him.”