Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas is planning to amend his financial disclosure documents after ProPublica reported that he failed to report a real estate deal he made with a prominent Republican donor in 2014, according to CNN.
The move by Thomas comes after the conservative justice has faced intense scrutiny over his relationship with Harlan Crow, a billionaire GOP donor.
ProPublica first reported Thomas accepted gifts, like expensive trips and outings on a yacht, from Crow over several years. The outlet then reported Thomas sold three Georgia properties to Crow, a transaction totaling over $130,000, which Thomas never reported. One of the properties includes the home where Thomas’s 94-year-old mother lives.
Crow told CNN in a statement last week he bought the property in hopes of one day creating “a public museum at the Thomas home dedicated to telling the story of our nation’s second black Supreme Court Justice.”
The source close to Thomas told CNN the justice did not think he had to disclose the real estate transaction because he lost money in the deal.
Thomas defended the report of his trips with Crow, saying he was advised that he did not have to report “personal hospitality from close personal friends, who did not have business before the Court.”
The revelations of his relationship with Crow, including the trips and the real estate deal, have prompted calls from Democrats for a stricter and enforceable ethical code for Supreme Court justices.
They have also asked Chief Justice John Roberts to launch an investigation into the matter. Several Democrats, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), have called for Thomas to be impeached.
Republicans have largely defended Thomas, deflecting what they argue are liberal attacks against a staunchly conservative Supreme Court justice.