Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Scale Of Justice Thomas' Undisclosed Donor-Bankrolled Travel Renews Supreme Court Ethics Debate
ProPublica: Clarence Thomas Secretly Accepted Luxury Trips From GOP Donor
In late June 2019, right after the U.S. Supreme Court released its final opinion of the term, Justice Clarence Thomas boarded a large private jet headed to Indonesia. He and his wife were going on vacation: nine days of island-hopping in a volcanic archipelago on a superyacht staffed by a coterie of attendants and a private chef. If Thomas had chartered the plane and the 162-foot yacht himself, the total cost of the trip could have exceeded $500,000. Fortunately for him, that wasn’t necessary: He was on vacation with real estate magnate and Republican megadonor Harlan Crow, who owned the jet — and the yacht, too. (Kaplan, Elliott and Mierjeski, 4/6)
The Washington Post: Justice Clarence Thomas Accepted Luxury Trips From GOP Donor, Report Says
ProPublica reported Thursday on an array of trips funded by Harlan Crow, a Dallas businessman. The publication said Thomas typically spends about a week every summer at Crow’s private resort in the Adirondacks. It said the justice also has vacationed at Crow’s ranch in East Texas and has joined him at the Bohemian Grove, an exclusive all-male retreat in California. ProPublica cited a nine-day trip that Thomas and his wife, Virginia “Ginni” Thomas, took to Indonesia in 2019, shortly after the court released its final opinions of the term. That trip, which included flights on Crow’s jet and island-hopping on a superyacht, would have cost the couple more than $500,000 if they had paid for it themselves, the publication said. (Wagner and Barnes, 4/6)
Democrats demand action after explosive report —
NBC News: Progressive Lawmakers Renew Call For Impeachment Of Justice Thomas
Progressive representatives on Thursday called for the impeachment of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas shortly after a ProPublica report detailed how he took lavish trips funded by a Republican billionaire donor that he did not disclose. "This degree of corruption is shocking — almost cartoonish," Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., wrote on Twitter. "Thomas must be impeached." Progressive ally Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., reiterated the call for impeachment, adding that the Supreme Court needs a binding code of ethics. Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., joined in on Twitter: "I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Clarence Thomas needs to be impeached." (Lebowitz, 4/6)
The Wall Street Journal: Justice Clarence Thomas’s Vacations Prompt Calls For Stronger Supreme Court Ethics Rules
The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee promised to take action on strengthening Supreme Court ethics rules, responding to a report that Justice Clarence Thomas accepted lavish vacations and private-jet travel paid for by a billionaire friend. “The highest court in the land shouldn’t have the lowest ethical standards,” said Sen. Dick Durbin (D., Ill.), adding that the committee would take unspecified action in response. Mr. Durbin’s office didn’t immediately respond to questions about what steps the committee might take. (Wise and Wolfe, 4/6)
