Justice Clarence Thomas and his wife, conservative activist Jenny Thomas, have gone on several luxury trips that involve subsidized travel and lodgings at GOP-owned properties, according to a new ProPublica report published Thursday.
No hospitality was disclosed in Thomas' public finance filings with the Supreme Court, ProPublica said.
The report on the relationship between Thomas and conservative businessman Harlan Crowe is already adding to calls for Congress to investigate potential ethical lapses. Key Senate Democrats had previously considered using this year's funding legislation for the Supreme Court to pressure justices to adopt some kind of code of ethics.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin, an Illinois Democrat, said in a statement that ProPublica's report was a "call to action" and that "the Senate Judiciary Committee will act."
A new ProPublica report describes Thomas accepting generous travel hospitality from the Crow that included lavish trips to Indonesia, New Zealand, California, Texas and Georgia. Some of these trips have reportedly included traveling on Crow's superyacht or staying at properties owned by Crow or his company. ProPublica has also identified what appear to be several trips Thomas took on Crow's private jet that are not disclosed in his public morals filings, although Thomas's Crow flight was disclosed in 1997.
In a statement to ProPublica also sent to CNN Thursday, Crowe said he has been friends with Thomas and his wife Jenny for more than 30 years, and that the hospitality he has extended to Justice over the years is "no different than the hospitality we've extended to many of our other dear friends."


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