Katie Kerekes, FISM News
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Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas is facing backlash over his connections to a man whom sources are calling a “GOP megadonor.”
According to a Thursday report by ProPublica, Harlan Crow, a Dallas-based real estate developer, paid for two years of Thomas’ great nephew’s private school tuition at two academies.
In the late 90s, Clarence and his wife, Virginia Thomas, voluntarily took the boy in and raised him “as a son,” a move which friends of the family say was sacrificial and selfless.
But critics say the Thomas’ failure to disclose Crow’s financial generosity toward the young boy’s education violates ethical standards. The Ethics in Government Act requires the justices to report gifts given to a “dependent child,” whom the law only lists as children or stepchildren, according to the Hill.
Former attorney for the George W. Bush and Trump administrations, and close friend of the Thomas family, Mark Paoletta, has come out in staunch defense of the justice and his wife, noting their character in choosing to care for a child in need.
“The Thomases – quietly and honorably – devoted 12 years of their lives to helping a beloved child in desperate need of love, support and guidance.” Paoletta said in a Twitter statement on Thursday.
“In 1997, Justice Thomas and his wife brought their great-nephew to live with them. They agreed to take in this young child much as Justice Thomas’ grandparents had done for him and his brother in 1955.”
According to Paoletta, Justice Thomas’ grandparents “changed the trajectory of his life,” and thus, the Thomas family’s “immeasurable personal and financial sacrifices” to pour “every ounce of their lives and hearts into giving their great nephew a chance to succeed” is being turned into another attempt to manufacture a scandal about the justice, who has found himself to be a target of liberal disdain due to his conservative values.
Paoletta contends the family did not ask Crow for his help, but that he offered assistance by his own volition.
“In the summer of 2006, the Thomases were struggling to find a school where they could send their great nephew. In discussing these challenges with their dear friends, Harlan and Kathy Crow, Harlan recommended that the Thomases consider one more option: sending their great nephew to Randolph Macon Academy. Harlan had attended Randolph Macon, and he thought the school would be a good fit.”
Paoletta claims that Crow had been a financial supporter of the academy since the 1980’s, funding scholarships for students from disadvantaged backgrounds. His statement notes that the tuition payments were made directly to each school, on behalf of Justice Thomas’ great nephew, and that the media is guilty of malicious intent.