Wyden Uncovers Private Jet Travel Still Undisclosed by Justice Thomas, Demands Travel Records from Thomas’ Benefactor Harlan Crow
New Letter to Crow’s Attorney Asks: Did Crow Improperly Write Off Yacht Voyages, Including Those with Justice Thomas, to Dodge Taxes?
Washington, D.C. – In a letter to an attorney representing Justice Clarence Thomas’ billionaire benefactor Harlan Crow, Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden, D-Ore., today newly revealed flights taken by Thomas aboard Crow’s private jet that Thomas has failed to disclose. The letter also restated demands for travel and financial records pertaining to Crow’s yacht, the Michaela Rose, that would demonstrate whether Crow improperly used personal trips aboard the yacht, including those with Justice Thomas, to avoid or evade taxes.
An attorney representing Crow has repeatedly failed to provide those records, but has previously disclosed that the yacht has never been chartered out to any individuals or entities unrelated to Crow. It appears, according to the committee’s ongoing investigation, that Crow’s yacht has never been available for charter to any potential customers, yet it reportedly produced millions in losses over more than a decade that Crow used to avoid paying taxes.
Senator Wyden wrote to Crow’s attorney: “On several occasions, I have asked directly how many times Justice Thomas traveled aboard the Michaela Rose and private jets paid for by Mr. Crow, and whether Mr. Crow deducted the costs of these particular trips on tax filings. These should not be difficult questions to answer…
“Neither Mr. Crow nor Justice Thomas have disclosed the full scale of the Thomas’s use of the Michaela Rose and private jets courtesy of Mr. Crow, even as the Congress continues to uncover additional international private jet travel with Mr. Crow that Justice Thomas failed to disclose on his ethics filings. For example, the Committee obtained international flight records showing that on November 19, 2010, Justice Thomas and his wife flew from Hawaii to New Zealand on Mr. Crow’s private jet, before flying back from New Zealand to Hawaii on the jet a week later on November 27, 2010. Mr. Crow was also a passenger on these flights. To date, Justice Thomas has never disclosed this private jet travel on any financial disclosure forms, even though Justice Thomas has amended disclosures to reflect other international travel on Mr. Crow’s private jet…
“Unfortunately, your prior responses to the Committee have done nothing to address concerns that personal trips aboard Mr. Crow’s superyacht and private jets for lavish vacations, including complimentary private jet travel for Justice Thomas, may have been used to help Mr. Crow avoid or evade paying federal taxes. This is not a particularly complicated matter. Mr. Crow could easily clarify for the Committee whether tax deductions were claimed on superyacht and private jet use by Justice Thomas, but he refuses to do so.”
The full letter sent to Crow’s attorney including detailed questions is available here.
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