GOP donor defends Clarence Thomas.

Harlan Crow, a Republican billionaire, has defended his long-standing friendship with Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, amid allegations that Thomas failed to disclose luxury vacations and a real estate deal paid for by Crow. Speaking in an interview with the Dallas Morning News, Crow labelled the allegations a “political hit job”, stating that he believes the media has an agenda to destabilize the court, and that the allegations lack integrity.

Independent, non-profit news organisation, ProPublica, reported earlier this month that Crow had paid for Thomas to go on multiple expensive vacations over two decades, trips that the justice never reported. Additionally, a follow-up report from last week stated that Thomas also failed to disclose a 2014 real estate deal he made with the Texas billionaire.

ProPublica’s editor in chief, Stephen Engelberg, told the Dallas Morning News that both Crow and Thomas had been given detailed, written questions in advance of the stories, and while Thomas declined to respond, Crow’s answers were included in full. Thomas claimed after the first article that he had been advised he did not need to disclose the luxury trips.

Crow reiterated his defense that he had bought the Georgia home in which Thomas’s mother was living, saying that he had intended to turn it into a museum on Thomas.

The allegations against Thomas have ignited outrage from Democrats, with Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) calling for Thomas to be impeached over the findings, and Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats urging Chief Justice John Roberts to investigate.

Crow dismissed concerns over the friendship, stating that it was possible for people to just be friends, and that he wouldn’t try to influence the justice on matters such as abortion.

When asked if he would still be friends with Thomas if he didn’t have the Supreme Court justice title, Crow responded that it was an interesting question, and that he wasn’t sure how to answer it.

Crow also stated in the interview that he didn’t know what “mega donor” meant.