Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has reported rental income worth hundreds of thousands of dollars from a real estate firm that has been defunct for nearly 20 years, the latest investigation into the embattled judge revealed Sunday.
The Washington Post wrote that financial disclosure forms show he’s continued to report between $50,000 and $100,000 a year made from Ginger Ltd., Partnership, a firm launched in the 1980s by his wife and her family.
The firm closed down in 2006, the Post reported. It was replaced by another firm, but Thomas’ records don’t mention that one.
The Post analyzed Thomas’ financial disclosures over several decades and found a series of errors, it said.
“They have raised questions about how seriously Thomas views his responsibility to accurately report details about his finances to the public,” the newspaper said.
ProPublica reported this month that Thomas was taken on vacations by, and sold real estate property to, a Texas billionaire, Harlan Crow, without making necessary disclosures.
“Any presumption in favor of Thomas’s integrity and commitment to comply with the law is gone. His assurances and promises cannot be trusted. Is there more? What’s the whole story? The nation needs to know,” Stephen Gillers, a legal ethics expert at New York University, told the Post.
“The Supreme Court has been the glue that has held the republic together since 1790 with the Civil War the only interruption. We need the public to respect it even when it disagrees with it and to understand why it is important.”
Thomas didn’t respond to requests for comment from the Post.
The Post said that, since 2006 when the real estate firm shut down, Thomas, whose annual salary is $285,000, has reported receiving between $270,000 and $750,000 from it.