Thomas took dozens of trips paid for by billionaire friends: ProPublica

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas took dozens of trips paid for by at least four billionaire friends during his time on the bench, a new report from ProPublica found.

The report detailed how Thomas’s friends footed the bills for at least 38 destination vacations, 26 private jet flights and eight helicopter flights. Besides travel costs, billionaires paid for 12 VIP passes to sporting events, two resort stays in Florida and Jamaica and one “standing invitation to an uber-exclusive golf club” on the Atlantic coast, according to the report.

ProPublica has previously investigated Thomas’s relationship with Harlan Crow, who gifted the justice with vacations, flights and even paid for his mother’s house in Georgia. The report also noted that The New York Times recently detailed Thomas’s relationship with two billionaire members of the Horatio Alger Association.

The research also revealed that a fourth friend — oil businessman Paul “Tony” Novelly — paid for gifts and trips for the justice. ProPublica noted that all four of the reported billionaires likely met Thomas after he was confirmed to the bench.

DEVELOPING