Clarence Thomas said he loves RVs and Walmarts in a documentary financed by the GOP megadonor who was taking him on luxury vacations
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas said in a documentary that he prefers RV parks and Walmarts.
A new ProPublica report found Thomas has been taking luxury vacations paid for by a GOP megadonor for years.
Thomas reportedly accepted the trips from billionaire Harlan Crow, who helped finance the documentary.
Clarence Thomas once said he enjoys RV parks and Walmart parking lots over beaches in a documentary bankrolled in part by a GOP megadonor, who has reportedly treated the Supreme Court justice to luxury vacations around the world.
"I don't have any problem with going to Europe, but I prefer the United States, and I prefer seeing the regular parts of the United States," Thomas said in an interview for a 2020 documentary about his life titled, "Created Equal: Clarence Thomas in His Own Words."
"I prefer the RV parks. I prefer the Walmart parking lots to the beaches and things like that. There's something normal to me about it," Thomas continued, adding, "I come from regular stock, and I prefer that — I prefer being around that."
The line from the documentary was resurfaced on Thursday by ProPublica in a bombshell report that revealed Thomas has been accepting luxury vacations from real estate magnate and Republican donor Harlan Crow for years without disclosing them. Crow also helped finance the 2020 documentary, according to ProPublica.
Thomas, a conservative who's been on the nation's highest court more than 30 years, has vacationed with Crow nearly every year for more than two decades, traveling on his private jet and superyacht, ProPublica reported, citing flight records, internal documents, and interviews.
According to the report, Thomas has vacationed with Crow on his 162-foot yacht around the world, has flown around on Crow's Bombardier Global 5000 jet and stayed at his private lakeside resort in New York's Adirondacks almost every summer.
In June 2019, Thomas and his wife accepted an Indonesia vacation from Crow, and it could have cost more than an estimated $500,000 if Thomas chartered the yacht and plane himself, according to ProPublica. The trip involved nine days of island hopping.
Years before that, Thomas had spent time on Crow's yacht for a cruise in New Zealand, the report found.
The justice had also reportedly used Crow's jet for a three-hour trip from Dallas to Washington Dulles airport to New Haven, Connecticut, and flew back that same day.
A Supreme Court spokesperson did not immediately respond to Insider's requests for comment on Thursday.
Crow, in a statement to ProPublica, said he has been friends with Thomas and his wife, Ginni, since 1996 and added: "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."
"Justice Thomas and Ginni never asked for any of this hospitality," Crow said.
"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," said Crow.
Ethics experts and former and current judges told ProPublica that Thomas violated the normal conduct of judges and may have broken financial disclosure requirements by failing to report on such trips.
The Supreme Court has come under scrutiny over ethics concerns and potential conflicts of interests. Congressional Democrats have called for stricter financial reporting requirements for the justices and to adopt an enforceable code of conduct.
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