it notes some of the stays may not have required disclosure and thomas may have violated the law by failing to disclose the flights, the yacht cruises and sports trips. nbc news reached out to justice thomas for comment, but did not immediately hear back. in response to previous reporting about gifts he received, he said he had been advised that the trips and gifts were personal hospitality from close personal friends and did not have to be reported in disclosure. joining us now is one of the reporters behind this new investigation, brett murphy. thank you for being with us. you and your colleagues spoke with more than 100 people in your reporting for this piece. what more can you tell us about what you uncovered? yeah, so, we really, you know, kind of covered the gamut of folks in these benefactor circles, everyone from yacht employees, flight attendants, pilots, security guards, drivers and what we found is that for about three decades now, justice
like private plane rides, yacht cruises. the personal hospitality exemption that justice thomas cited in the past as his reason for not disclosing, the experts told us that s really meant to cover, say, a dinner at a friend s house sort of thing. these failures to disclose jet tickets on private planes, sporting event passes in the sky box, all of that is supposed to be disclosed. that s what they say are the violations of the ethics in government. and in your piece you speak with a former federal judge, who called this unprecedented. just how unusual are these types of gifts compared to, let s say, other justices and the things they may or may not have done? yeah, so we have been reporting and we will continue to report on all the justices. we re actively soliciting tips and information about any of the justices. as far as we know now, justice thomas is an extreme outlier in
fullest accounting to date on the generosity that has regularly afforded thomas a lifestyle far beyond what his income provides. gifts include at least 38 destination vacation, including a previously unreported voyage on a yacht around the bahamas, 26 private jet flights plus an additional 8 by helicopter. passes to college and professional sporting events, two stays at luxury resorts in florida and jamaica, and one standing invitation to an uber exclusive golf club overlooking the atlantic coast. we should be clear propublica hasn t identified any legal cases that thompson s ben factors had before the supreme court in the course of their relationship. although they all work in industries significantly impacted by the court s decision. and while some of the hospitality may not have required disclosure, thomas does appear to have violated the law by failing to disclose flights, yacht cruises and sports
don t cha? ( ) get a free storage upgrade when you pre-order at at&t. it must be nice to have lots of friends who are billionaires. free luxury loop conditions, boarding event tickets, yacht cruises. of course i am talking about the friends of supreme court justice, clarence thomas. tom foreman explains the new urgency about questions of transparency and ethics on and off the bench. the most complete accounting yet of the highlights of supreme court justice clarence thomas shows much more than previously known. more private jet, more fancy
propublica reports crow paid the tuition for thomas grand nephew who thomas considers his son. and who he had legal custody of, to not one but two boarding schools. and we don t know how much crow paid, but propublica estimates it could be in excess of $150,000. in a statement, crow said that justice thomas didn t ask for the money. additionally, he told propublica he has long been passionate about the importance of quality education and giving back to those less fortunate, especially at-risk youth. at-risk youth? according to a thomas friend, crow paid the schools directly on behalf of the justice and thomas was not required to disclose the tuition payments to schools because his great nephew did not fit the definition of a dependent child under the ethics in government act. interestingly, the thomases did not reject the payment for their grand nephew, just to recap, mr. crow has reportedly paid for clarence thomas private jet rides, his yacht cruises and