Clarence Thomas secretly sold elderly mom’s home, other properties to billionaire vacation benefactor Harlan Crow
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas reportedly sold a Georgia home where his elderly mom lives and two other properties to the right-wing billionaire benefactor who also treated him to pricey vacations.
Thomas failed to disclose the 2014 sales to GOP mega donor Harlan Crow, despite being required by law to reveal any such transactions, investigative news website Pro Publica reported Thursday.
“He needed to report his interest in the sale,” Virginia Canter, a former government ethics lawyer, told Pro Publica. “You have to wonder if this was an effort to put cash in (Thomas’s) pockets.”
Crow’s sprawling real estate firm bought the modest home in Savannah, Georgia, where neighbors said Thomas’s 94-year-old mother Leola Williams still lives, along with two vacant lots down the street for about $133,000.
The properties were owned by Clarence Thomas, his brother’s estate, and their mom. After buying the home, Crow poured tens of thousands of dollars into renovations, including a new carport, roof and fence.
It’s not known if Leola Williams anyone else has ever paid rent on the home.
Thomas didn’t comment on the new report, which shows for the first time that he had a financial relationship with Crow involving cash changing hands.
Crow claimed the goal of the purchases was to preserve and upgrade the home and block where Clarence Thomas spent time as a boy.
“My desire (is) to maintain this historic site so future generations could learn about the inspiring life of one of our greatest Americans,” he told the news site.
Regardless of Crow’s goal in buying the properties, Thomas was legally required to disclose sales of any property worth more than $1,000.
The report comes just days after Pro Publica revealed that Clarence Thomas and his controversial wife, Ginni, took expensive vacations on Crow’s dime, including a $500,000 cruise on his super yacht in Indonesia.
The judge also takes an annual summer vacation to Crow’s exclusive private resort in the Adirondacks, where he rubs elbows with conservative luminaries and Republican donors.
Crow also poured money into a right-wing advocacy group that paid Ginni Thomas a salary.
Clarence Thomas failed to disclose any of the trips or other ties on disclosure forms, claiming that he was told by unnamed colleagues that it wasn’t necessary because he and Crow are close friends.