Clarence Thomas and the Billionaire

[Mike M (the other one)]

(04-13-2023, 04:28 PM)pally Wrote: New reporting from Pro Publica
https://www.propublica.org/article/clarence-thomas-harlan-crow-real-estate-scotus

IN 2014, Crow bought the house Thomas's mother was living in and 2 vacant lots.  The home was co-owned by Thomas, his mother, and late brother.  Mrs. Thomas remains the resident. There was no evidence to show whether she is paying rent or not.  I'm betting on not. Crow then immediately spent 10's of thousands of dollars improving the property.  He claimed he bought the property to turn it into a museum. Crow later sold the 2 vacant lots which started the gentrification of the aging neighborhood..

Justice Thomas FAILED to report this transaction as required for property sales of over $1000.  The only exception is for a primary residence which this transaction certainly was not.  

This BFF relationship is amazing

1) Crow owns the home of Thomas's mother
2) Crow donated 1/2 a million dollars to a new PAC founded by Ginni Thomas which in turn paid her a $120,000/year
3) Crow financed a documentary about Thomas's life,  Thomas talked about his love of RV trips but somehow missed talking about his regular vacations on luxury yachts in exotic locations
3) Other guests on these vacations include high-ranking officials whose companies or industries have cases in front of the court
4) Crow regularly makes large donations to institutions and causes with strong Thomas ties, including a fund honoring him at Yale, a library wing, a statue for a favored teacher, etc
5) Crow is a major financier in the Federalist Society's attempt to make over the courts as well as the publicity campaign behind all 3 of Trump's SC nominees
6)Makes you wonder what Thomas contributes to this relationship which didn't begin until AFTER Thomas joined the court.

1) So? was there an agreement between Thomas and Crow or did Crow do that on his own?
2) So she's like the ONLY person in all of DC that benefited from that?  
3) And it was cleared up by both Crow and Thomas that no SC business was discussed.
4) ? so he admires him, but that's not breaking the laws, he's not giving it to him directly which IS against the law.
5) Isn't that part of Freedom of Speech? He's using his money to get the message out that he wants heard.
6) When they met isn't all that important considering the length of time that they have already established as being friends.

as i said before, you grab a fact and make everyone speculate the rest and if they don't speculate the same as you, you argue it with them. When there's nothing really there worth arguing about.

Just read a bit ago that Mr Crow and his firm have never had a case that was brought before the SC...

https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23741877-harlan-crow-statement

Statement from Harlan Crow: 

My wife Kathy and I have been friends with Justice Thomas and his wife Ginni since 1996. We are very dear friends. The hospitality we have extended to the Thomas’s over the years is no different from the hospitality we have extended to our many other dear friends. We have been most fortunate to have a great life of many friends and financial success, and we have always placed a priority on spending time with our family and friends. Justice Thomas and Ginni never asked for any of this hospitality. 

We have never asked about a pending or lower court case, and Justice Thomas has never discussed one, and we have never sought to influence Justice Thomas on any legal or political issue. More generally, I am unaware of any of our friends ever lobbying or seeking to influence Justice Thomas on any case, and I would never invite anyone who I believe had any intention of doing that. These are gatherings of friends. 

On a number of occasions, we have made contributions to projects celebrating the life and legacy of Justice Thomas, just as we have done with other great leaders and historically significant figures. He and Ginni never asked us to do any of this. We did so because we believe Justice Thomas to be one of the greatest Americans of our time, and we believe it is important to make sure as many people as possible learn about him, remember him, and understand the ideals for which he stands. We will continue to support projects that advance this goal.