That corresponds to the trips detailed in a lengthy report on Mr. Thomas released last year, in which Mr. Thomas enjoyed lavish vacations and trips over the years, courtesy of conservative billionaire Harlan Crow, though Mr. Thomas never publicly disclosed his generosity.
As it turned out, that wasn’t all: The Senate Judiciary Committee, which was investigating Thomas’ travels, received information from Crow’s lawyers detailing nine flights Thomas took aboard Crow’s private jet, a Bombardier Global 5000. In total, those trips totaled 33,000 miles, including a round-trip trip to Indonesia that was included in the original ProPublica report.
The information released to the Senate committee lists five separate trips.
The first time was in May 2017, when Thomas flew on Crow’s jet from St. Louis to Kalispell, Montana, the gateway to Glacier National Park, and two days later, Thomas flew from Montana to Dallas, where Crow lives just north of Dallas.
The next trip was in March 2019, when Thomas flew from Washington on Crow’s plane to Savannah, where Thomas’ mother lives and whose home Crow had purchased from her and her son. (In a statement to ProPublica, Crow said he plans to turn the residence into part of a museum of Supreme Court justices.)
Then there was a trip to Indonesia, which included a trip on Crowe’s yacht, in June and July 2019.
Later that July, Thomas flew on Crow’s jet from Washington to Santa Rosa, California, just east of the Bohemian Grove, a men’s club frequented by Crow and other conservatives.
Then, on June 29, 2021, Thomas flew on Crowe’s jet from Washington, D.C. to San Jose for reasons that are unclear.
Liberty Jet offers on-demand private jet services, including using Crow’s Bombardier Global 5000. The company estimates its operating costs per mile to be around $15 to $19 per year, depending on how often the plane is used.
That means Thomas’ 33,000-mile trip could have cost between $500,000 and $625,000 if he’d used the Liberty rather than relying on Crow’s generosity.
In return, he sacrificed nothing, at least financially.
