Associate Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas arrives for the swearing-in ceremony of Neil Gorsuch as an Associate Supreme Court Justice in the Rose Garden of the White House, Washington, D.C., April 10, 2017.
Joshua Roberts | Reuters
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas asked for more time to file his annual financial disclosure as he faces an ethics controversy over accepting pricy vacations and other largesse from Republican billionaire Harlan Crow.
Thomas will get up to 90 more days to submit his required disclosure. Justice Samuel Alito, another conservative, was the only other Supreme Court justice to request an extension.
The other seven justices filed their disclosures on time. They were publicly released Wednesday.
ProPublica recently revealed Thomas for decades accepted luxury trips from Crow. The Texas real estate developer also purchased properties belonging to the conservative justice’s family in Georgia, and funded part of his great-nephew’s private school education.
The revelations sparked harsh criticism of Thomas for failing to disclose the ties and calls for ethics reform of the Supreme Court. Crow has said those gestures were done out of friendship and were not improper.
The Democratic-led Senate Judiciary Committee has sought information from Crow about his relationship with Thomas, but the billionaire has stonewalled those requests.
On Monday, a lawyer for Crow said he was willing to speak with staff members of the Judiciary Committee, although he had “concerns” about the panel’s authority to investigate the situation.
Sen. Dick Durbin, the Illinois Democrat who heads the committee, and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., shot back at the lawyer’s stance, and implied they might subpoena Crow.
“Let’s be clear: Harlan Crow doesn’t call the shots here. He is not a branch — nor even a member — of government and cannot claim the protections and privileges of one,” the two lawmakers said Monday.
“The Senate Judiciary Committee has clearly established oversight and legislative authority to assess and address the ethical crisis facing the Court. All options are on the table moving forward.”
Crow recently told The Atlantic: “I believe Justice Thomas to be a person of the highest character.”
He also said it is “kind of weird to think that if you’re a justice on the Supreme Court, you can’t have friends.”