The very conservative judge of the American Supreme Court, Clarence Thomas, advanced this Friday a justification to defend the many luxury stays financed for more than twenty years by “his friend” billionaire, known for his donations to the Republican
Party
.
Cruises on a mega-yacht, private jet flights ... the 74-year-old judge has been at the heart of a controversy since the revelations of the ProPublica media on the largesse he had accepted from businessman Harlan Crow, without declaring them.
"
Harlan and Kathy Crow are some of our best friends
," Clarence Thomas said in a statement.
“
As friends do, we have accompanied them on a number of trips.
The Dean of the Supreme Court also claims not to have been aware of the rules governing declarations around this type of stay.
Numerous charges
It is not the first time that Mr Thomas' name has been linked to controversy: his wife Ginni, a lobbyist and conservative activist, was involved in Donald Trump's crusade to prove - wrongly - that the 2020 presidential election had been stolen from him.
Once revealed the SMS and e-mails she sent for this purpose, the left had castigated an apparent conflict of interest and called on her husband to recuse himself from any electoral file.
Nominated by Republican President George HW Bush in 1991, he was confirmed despite accusations of sexual harassment by a former aide.
He has always denied them, claiming to be the victim of a "
high-tech lynching
".
Revelations of this largesse have fueled calls for his "
immediate resignation
" from some elected Democrats.