Clarence and Ginni Thomas face new ethics scrutiny over secret payments, gifted private school tuition

Clarence and Ginni Thomas
(Image credit: Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas accepted from Texas billionaire Harlan Crow at least $100,000 of private school tuition for his legal ward and did not include the gifts on his financial disclosure forms, ProPublic reported Thursday. Hours later, The Washington Post revealed that conservative judicial activist Leonard Leo had arranged at least $80,000 in secret consulting payments for Thomas' wife, Virginia "Ginni" Thomas, in 2011 and 2012.

The newly uncovered payments add to ethical and legal concerns about expensive, undisclosed financial arrangements the Thomas' have accepted from powerful friends over the past two decades, especially Crow.

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.