Clarence Thomas' Billionaire Donor Pal Did Have Business Before Court, Harlan Crow Denies Involvement & Knowledge Of Case

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas shut down claims that he may have abused his power by not reporting vacations paid for by a billionaire Republican donor, claiming he was told that would be acceptable and not reportable as long as the individual did not have business before the court.

RadarOnline.com has learned Harlan Crow did have at least one time in which he had business before the court, according to a bombshell report published on Monday.

Bloomberg cited one instance in January 2005 when the court declined to hear an appeal from an architecture firm that Crow's family had a non-controlling interest in.

The firm was seeking more than $25 million from Trammell Crow Residential Co., having accused the company of misusing copyrighted building designs.

It was revealed there were no noted recusals in the court's one-sentence order denying the petition.

Thomas reportedly did not disqualify himself as unable to perform legal duties because of a potential conflict of interest or lack of impartiality, while Crow's team said he had no involvement or knowledge.

"At the time of this case, Trammell Crow Residential operated completely independently of Crow Holdings with a separate management team and its own independent operations," his office said in a statement.

"Crow Holdings had a minority interest in the parties involved in this case and therefore no control of any of these entities. Neither Harlan Crow nor Crow Holdings had knowledge of or involvement in this case, and a search of Crow Holdings legal records reveals no involvement in this case."

The billionaire donor defended Thomas once more, having concluded his statement by declaring, "Harlan Crow has never discussed this or any other case with any justice."

Thomas, for his part, previously said he followed gift disclosure rules that he learned from fellow colleagues in his early years as a Supreme Court justice. "I have endeavored to follow that counsel throughout my tenure," he said.

He was an appointee of President George H.W. Bush in 1991.

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Thomas has been subject to furious backlash while facing calls for impeachment after an explosive report revealed he accepted gifts including trips on a jet and mega-yacht from Crow, both of which explaining they are just longtime family friends.

Ethics law experts who spoke with ProPublica said Thomas' failure to disclose his trips paid for by Crow directly violated a "law requiring justices, judges, members of Congress and federal officials to disclose most gifts."

New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was among those critics who said Thomas must be impeached while others have demanded his conduct be further looked into.