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Clarence Thomas’ Billionaire Benefactor to Democratic Senators Asking for Receipts: No
Billionaire businessman and conservative megadonor Harlan Crow, who for more than two decades has funded almost annual luxury, all-expenses-paid vacations, travel, lodging, food, and even clothing for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and at times, his far-right extremist and activist wife Ginni Thomas, purchased his mother’s house and paid the tuition of their ward and grandnephew, just refused to provide the U.S. Senate Finance Committee with some very basic information it requested last week.
Pointing to bombshell investigations from ProPublica, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden requested a full accounting of all the gifts Crow has lavished on Clarence and Ginni Thomas over the past two-plus decades.
“With every new revelation in this case, it becomes clearer that Harlan Crow has been subsidizing an extravagant lifestyle that Justice Thomas and his family could not otherwise afford,” Wyden said in a statement on the Committee’s official Senate website. “This is a foul breach of ethics standards, which are already far too low when it comes to the Supreme Court. I gave Mr. Crow until May 8th to provide a full account of the gifts he provided to Justice Thomas’s family. Should he fail to comply, I will explore using other tools at the committee’s disposal to obtain this critical information.”
Through his attorney, Harlan Crow has just refused, as CNN reports.
Gibson Dunn attorney Michael Bopp claims in a letter the Finance Committee lacks a legislative purpose to request the information, and “lacks jurisdiction” and “authority” to “conduct tax audits or judicial ethics inquiries.” He also claims a violation of the separation of powers.
(Some legal experts disagree with Bopp.)
“We of course respect the authority of the Senate Finance Committee to consider and report tax-related legislation. But that is evidently not the goal of this attempt to tarnish the reputation of a sitting Supreme Court Justice and his friend of many years, Mr. Crow,” Bopp writes. “Indeed, the Chairman’s latest statement about this inquiry, made on May 4, 2023, and available on the Committee website, speaks of ethics standards (which are not the province of the Senate Finance Committee) and makes no mention of gift tax laws.”
“The Letter also suggests that certain real estate transactions may raise gift tax issues,” Bopp adds. “Mr. Crow’s purchase of property in Savannah, Georgia (through his LLC) complied with federal and state gift tax laws.”
He offers what he suggests are the terms of the deal in which Crow bought Clarence Thomas’ mother’s house, where she continues to live rent free.
“Contrary to news reporting, as part of the overall transaction to purchase Justice Thomas’s mother’s home and two lots, Mr. Crow’s LLC provided a lifetime occupancy agreement for his mother, Mrs. Leola Williams, who was 84 years old at the time of the sale,” Bopp writes. He says the sale would not have gone through without the “lifetime occupancy agreement.”
Eric Seagall, a Georgia State University law professor and author of a book on the Supreme Court, offered this observation Tuesday: “Crow’s law firm Gibson, Dunn who successfully argued Bush v Gore while [Ginni Thomas] was getting jobs for Heritage [Foundation] folks in the not yet elected Bush Administration and where Scalia’s son works. The world is small (disclaimer I once worked for Gibson Dunn).”
On Monday, Senate Judiciary Chairman Dick Durbin also requested a similar list from Harlan Crow, including “all gifts, payments, and items of value exceeding $415 given by you, or by entities you own or control,” and “all real estate transactions in which you, or any entity you own or control…conducted with a Justice of the Supreme Court or a member of the Justice’s family.”
No word yet on a response to that letter.
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Sir Edward Davey, a UK Member of Parliament who serves as the leader of the Liberal Democrats, blasted President Donald Trump on Monday, and warned that Britain’s King Charles should not visit the American president later this month.
Quoting President Trump’s recent threat to Iran, “A whole civilization will die tonight,” Sir Davey called the statement, “words I never thought I would hear from an American president,” and “a stark reminder of how reckless, immoral, and completely outside the bounds of international law this president is.”
Davey declared Trump “no friend of the United Kingdom” and “no leader of the free world,” but rather, “a dangerous and corrupt gangster” — and warned that is how Trump must be treated.
“So will the Prime Minister advise the King to call off his state visit to Washington before it’s too late?” Davey asked of Keir Starmer. “Because I really fear, for what Trump might say or do, while our King is forced to stand by his side. We cannot put His Majesty in that position.”
READ MORE: From Iowa to Georgia the Red Wall Is Cracking — and Trump Is the Wrecking Ball
The Independent reports that Starmer did defend the King’s upcoming U.S. state visit, and “held firm, arguing the visit marks the 250th anniversary of the relationship between the two countries.”
BBC News reports that Starmer did call Trump’s threat against Iran “wrong,” and said he would not have used the same words as the U.S. president.
King Charles’ U.S. visit will be the first UK state visit since Queen Elizabeth II came to America in 2007.
Donald Trump is no leader of the free world. He’s a dangerous and corrupt gangster.
The Prime Minister needs to call off the King’s state visit to Washington before it’s too late. pic.twitter.com/xt7nxrDPSu
— Ed Davey (@EdwardJDavey) April 13, 2026
READ MORE: DoorDash Grandma Mum on Trump Tip — and Who She Voted For
The White House, apparently eager to shift focus from President Donald Trump’s failed Iran peace talks to his economic agenda, brought in an Arkansas grandmother who delivers DoorDash to help pay for her husband’s cancer treatments. She knocked on the Oval Office door carrying two brown bags of McDonald’s.
“Nice to see you,” the president said as he opened the door.
“Nice to meet you,” the grandmother of ten grandchildren, Sharon Simmons replied. “I have your DoorDash order for you, Mr. President.”
Even Trump the showman couldn’t help but notice the event looked “staged.”
“The reason for this,” Trump told Simmons, “is that I heard you picked up $11,000 because the tax bill was so big, the refund is the biggest one you’ve ever had.”
“It definitely was,” Simmons said. “I saved over $11,000 by not having to claim” tips, she said.
“It’s such an honor to meet you,” Trump went on to say. “And I think you voted for me?”
“Um, maybe,” Simmons replied, chuckling.
READ MORE: From Iowa to Georgia the Red Wall Is Cracking — and Trump Is the Wrecking Ball
Moments later, a reporter asked Simmons, “Are the White House good tippers? Do you know?”
“Um,” she responded, before Trump said, “Wait,” and pulled cash from his pocket and handed it to her.
“Yes, very,” she then told reporters.
CNN’s Kit Maher later reported that Simmons “wouldn’t reveal how much President Trump tipped her.”
Online critics pushed back on the event.
“Trump’s winning message: A grandma doing Door Dash because her husband’s cancer treatments are too expensive,” wrote the popular political commentary account on X, PatriotTakes.
“Why is she in a position like this to begin with?” asked Lisa Glass on X. “Does he really think that that’s a brag -that a woman has to deliver DoorDash and depend on a few cents more she might get from tips to help pay her husband‘s cancer treatments?!!!!!!”
“Well, I hope someone can talk to her and make her realize that if she had better representation, she might not have to be delivering DoorDash into her senior years to pay for her husband‘s cancer treatments,” she added.
President Trump receives DoorDash McDonald’s order and speaks with delivery driver: “I think you voted for me?”
Delivery driver: “Maybe.” pic.twitter.com/WRRqlLhxOd
— CSPAN (@cspan) April 13, 2026
READ MORE: ‘He Reported to Me in Detail’: Netanyahu’s Boast on Vance Fuels Blowback
Image via Reuters
As the U.S.-Iran peace talks failed over the weekend — at least for now — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly shared remarks with his Cabinet that are fueling blowback.
Vice President JD Vance led the peace talks, along with Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner, and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff.
Axios’ Barak Ravid on Monday morning reported that “Pakistani, Egyptian and Turkish mediators will continue talks with the U.S. and Iran in the coming days in an effort to bridge the remaining gaps and reach a deal to end the war, according to a regional source and a U.S. official.”
Ravid also reported that Netanyahu told his Cabinet, “I spoke yesterday with Vice President J.D. Vance. He called me from his plane on his way back from Islamabad. He reported to me in detail, as this administration does every day, about the development of the negotiations.”
Netanyahu went on to say, “In this case, the explosion in the negotiations. The explosion came from the American side, which could not tolerate Iran’s blatant violation of the agreement to enter the negotiations. The agreement was that they would cease fire, and the Iranians would immediately open the gates. They did not do that. The Americans could not accept that.”
But Netanyahu’s claim that the American Vice President “reported” to him, and the administration has done so “every day,” drew anger.
“Netanyahu is claiming openly that the US Vice President and administration report to him in detail on a daily basis,” wrote journalist Saagar Enjeti.
“‘He reported to me.’ That’s the problem,” observed journalist and documentary filmmaker Sara Afshar.
“For Netanyahu to tell his cabinet that the Trump administration reports to him every day in detail is quite something. I don’t understand how any nativist or sovereignist would accept that,” noted Firas Modad, who writes about the Middle East on Substack.
“America is an Israeli puppet state,” responded economist and author Saifedean Ammous.
READ MORE: White House Fires Back After President’s Doctor Is Asked to Test Trump’s Mental Fitness
Image via Reuters
‘He Reported to Me in Detail’: Netanyahu’s Boast on Vance Fuels Blowback
From Iowa to Georgia the Red Wall Is Cracking — and Trump Is the Wrecking Ball
DoorDash Grandma Mum on Trump Tip — and Who She Voted For
British MP Blasts ‘Corrupt Gangster’ Trump
British MP Blasts ‘Corrupt Gangster’ Trump
DoorDash Grandma Mum on Trump Tip — and Who She Voted For
From Iowa to Georgia the Red Wall Is Cracking — and Trump Is the Wrecking Ball
‘He Reported to Me in Detail’: Netanyahu’s Boast on Vance Fuels Blowback
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