ProPublica dropped another bombshell revelation on Thursday, reporting that Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas accepted private school tuition payments for a young relative from conservative GOP megadonor Harlan Crow.
According to the report, Crow paid the private boarding school tuition of Thomas’ grandnephew Mark Martin, according to a financial statement obtained by the outlet.
A former administrator at Hidden Lake Academy in Georgia told ProPublica Crow footed the $6,000-a-month tuition bill for the entire year, and also paid teen’s tuition at a second boarding school, Randolph-Macon Academy in Virginia, which happened to be Crow’s alma mater.
The total that Crow paid for Martin’s tuition over the years was unclear, but ProPublica reported the price of all four years at the two schools could have exceeded $150,000.
The tuition payments are likely to fuel the uproar over Thomas’ acceptance of luxury vacations, private jet travel, megayacht adventures and real estate sales proceeds from Crow. Those gifts aren’t mentioned on Thomas’ financial disclosure forms.
Thomas said earlier that he didn’t think he had to disclose “personal hospitality” from a friend.
As noted by ProPublica, “The latest revelation renews pressure on the Senate Judiciary Committee to take stronger action against Thomas and the Supreme Court. The panel held its first hearing on the court’s mounting ethics woes this week.”
Chief Justice John Roberts declined an invitation to appear before the committee, citing “separation of powers concerns and the importance of preserving judicial independence.”
