"Friends of the Court," ProPublica's investigation into Supreme Court justices' beneficial relationships with billionaire donors, has been awarded the #Pulitzer Prize for Public Service!
Here are the highlights from the reporting (THREAD)
#Senate Investigation “Casts Fresh Doubt” About the Validity of Harlan Crow’s Yacht Tax Deductions
In their extensive probe, Senate investigators found evidence to suggest that billionaire GOP megadonor Crow has made repeated misrepresentations to the U.S. government.
ProPublica revealed the #tax maneuvers in a previous story.
Clarence Thomas’ Private Complaints About #Money Sparked Fears He Would Resign
Interviews and newly unearthed documents reveal that #ClarenceThomas, facing financial strain, privately pushed for a higher salary and to allow #SupremeCourt justices to take speaking fees.
#Senate Committee Authorizes Subpoenas of Harlan Crow and Leonard Leo as Part of #SupremeCourt Ethics Probe
The subpoenas ask for details on gifts, travel and other perks the two men provided or helped arrange for Supreme Court justices and their relatives, but Senate #Democrats will need help from their #GOP colleagues if Crow and Leo defy the subpoenas.
In April, Propublica's by Joshua Kaplan, @justinelliott and #AlexMierjeski dropped a bombshell: #SupremeCourt Justice #ClarenceThomas had been showered in high-ticket "gifts" by billionaire ideologue #HarlanCrow, who subsequently benefited from Thomas's rulings in the court:
If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:
In a Historic First, the Supreme Court Has Adopted a Code of Ethics
The code, which does not include any enforcement mechanism, comes after ProPublica and other outlets revealed that justices had repeatedly failed to disclose gifts and travel from wealthy donors.
Clarence Thomas Acknowledges Undisclosed #RealEstate Deal With Harlan Crow and Discloses Private Jet Flights
The new filing comes after ProPublica’s reporting on the #SupremeCourt justice’s beneficial relationship with the billionaire GOP megadonor. Thomas also reported three private jet trips provided by Crow.
This morning's ProPublica story on Harlan Crow's yacht and the tax breaks he's seen by using it to entertain #SCOTUS Justice Clarence Thomas and others is a hybrid of two important ProPublica series.
The reporting on Crow's yacht builds directly on this story from April about Crow and Thomas' luxurious international travel: