For example, Thomas initially disclosed some travel with Crow, but stopped after the Los Angeles Times reported on it. And there is some other evidence that Thomas is inconsistent with regard to his disclosures.

That money was placed in a trust for Martin's benefit. Still, it seems that in 2002, Thomas disclosed a gift of $5,000 that was used to defray Martin's education. And neither Harlan Crow, nor his company, had any business before the Supreme Court. 13101 (2)) does not include a 'great nephew.' It is limited to a 'son, daughter, stepson or stepdaughter.' Justice Thomas never asked Harlan Crow to pay for his great nephew's tuition. Justice Thomas was not required to disclose the tuition payments made directly to Randolph Macon and the Georgia school on behalf of his great nephew because the definition of a 'dependent child' under the Ethics in Government Act (5 U.S.C. Harlan Crow's tuition payments made directly to these schools on behalf of Justice Thomas's great nephew did not constitute a reportable gift.

Mark Paoletta, a close confidant of the Thomases, provides the background of the tuition payments: And even if Thomas followed the statute, and was not required to disclose the payments, more disclosure is better. They say that in fact, these tuition payments were actually gifts to Thomas personally, which he had to disclose. The best case for not disclosing Crow's tuition payments would be to argue the gifts were to Martin, not Thomas, experts said.īut then ProPublica turns to the regular stable of experts. The law's definition of dependent child is narrow, however, and likely would not apply to Martin since Thomas was his legal guardian, not his parent. Justices also must report many gifts to their spouses and dependent children. ProPublica acknowledges this statute halfway through the story: § 13101(2) only requires disclosures for a gift to a 'son, daughter, stepson or stepdaughter.' Justice Thomas was not required to disclose any gifts concerning his grand nephew–even assuming the payments were gifts. And Thomas failed to disclose those payments. Today, ProPublica revealed that Harlan Crow paid the private-school tuition of Mark Martin, Justice Thomas's grand-nephew.

Another day, another report on Justice Thomas.

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