8 People Combined for 19 Sponsored Trips... Including Beyonc? Ticket Gifts
Covering Relatives' Tuition and Sports Game Tickets
Bali trip, California private club, yacht cruise trip, Beyonc? concert tickets...
As the U.S. Supreme Court established a separate code of ethics following controversies over some officials' 'free trips,' the financial disclosures of federal justices were made public on the 7th (local time), sparking controversy. This was due to detailed revelations of sponsored trips that had not been properly reported because of previously lax regulations.
Nine U.S. Supreme Court justices are taking a commemorative photo at the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., in October 2022. [Photo by AP]
On the 8th, Yonhap News reported, citing local U.S. media, that the financial disclosures of 8 out of the 9 federal justices were released that day. Clarence Thomas, who ignited last year's 'free trip' controversy, received two sponsored trips in 2019 from Harlan Crow, a Texas real estate tycoon. However, he stated that these were not included in the reports due to oversight.
Justice Thomas and his wife reportedly stayed in Bali for four days in 2019 with the Crow family, receiving meals and lodging. Thomas also stayed at a private club in Monte Rio, California, with Crow from July 18 to 21 of the same year, with Crow covering the expenses, which was disclosed.
Previously, the nonprofit internet media ProPublica exposed that Justice Thomas enjoyed dozens of luxury trips, including a Bali trip worth $500,000 (about 700 million won), for free without reporting them.
Justice Thomas is known to have received expensive gifts such as sports game tickets and even tuition support for his nephew's son from wealthy benefactors.
Born in 1948 and appointed to the Supreme Court in 1991 by then-President George H.W. Bush, Justice Thomas is the second African American justice in U.S. history and currently the most senior member of the federal Supreme Court. He is known as a strongly conservative figure in the court, which has recently shifted to a conservative majority.
Following the controversy over Justice Thomas's hospitality, the Supreme Court adopted its first-ever internal code of ethics and mandated strengthened regulations regarding travel and related matters.
Justice Samuel Alito, who faced criticism after it was revealed he went on a fishing trip to Alaska in 2008 with a billionaire hedge fund manager, was the only one among the nine justices to delay the disclosure of his financial information.
The 19 sponsored trips reported by the eight justices who submitted their financial disclosures were tallied. Four justices earned hundreds of thousands of dollars in royalties from their books.
Ketanji Brown Jackson, the first African American female justice, earned a total of $893,750 (about 1.23 billion won) from her autobiography published last September. Justice Jackson also reported receiving concert tickets worth nearly $4,000 (about 5.5 million won) as a gift from global pop star Beyonc? last year.
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