Justice Thomas Acted Properly and Was Not Required to Disclose His Trips

In the latest attempted attack on Supreme Court justice Clarence Thomas, several journalists and “judicial ethics” experts have portrayed him as violating the law for not listing trips on his financial disclosure, including flights on private jets and vacation stays at the home of his longtime friend Harlan Crow. But this portrayal is wrong. Justice Thomas did not have to disclose such trips. There are two definitive pieces of evidence for this: the Judicial Conference’s change to its interpretive guidance in March, and an exchange Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D., R.I.) had last year with a Senate Judiciary Committee witness in which they both recognized a scenario such as this wouldn’t be disclosable. It’s important to understand that Justice Thomas acted properly and consistent with the rules, as next week the Democrat-led Senate Judiciary Committee will have a hearing where Democrats will push this false narrative as part of their broader campaign to delegitimize the Court. (Full disclosure: I worked on Justice Thomas’s confirmation as a lawyer in White House in 1991, have co-edited a book on him titled Created Equal: Clarence Thomas in His Own Words, and remain close friends with him. I have also represented Ginni Thomas in the January 6 Committee inquiry.)

Before turning to the facts, let’s make one thing clear: This latest effort by the Left has nothing to do with “ethics.” It has everything to do with trying to destroy the Supreme Court now that there is a working majority of justices moving the Court firmly in an originalist direction. The Left is enraged that it no longer can count on the Court to implement the progressive policies that it cannot pass in Congress. And at the top of their hit list is Justice Thomas. He withstood the Left’s unprecedented assault on him 30 years ago, has never bowed to their continuing attacks, and has set forth a robust originalist jurisprudence in more than 700 opinions that is now commanding majorities in so many areas, from abortion and the Second Amendment to religious liberties and reining in the out-of-control administrative state.