1. United States
2. Mich.
3. Letter

I am writing to urge you to support a comprehensive investigation into whether Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas violated Virginia Code Section 58.1-348 by filing false income tax returns with intent to defraud the Commonwealth. This Class 6 felony carries a penalty of one to five years in prison, and substantial evidence suggests probable cause exists for prosecution. Between 2004 and 2023, Thomas accepted approximately $4.2 million in confirmed and likely gifts from billionaires who entered his life after he joined the Supreme Court in 1991. The bulk came from Dallas real estate magnate Harlan Crow, including superyacht cruises, private jet flights, annual stays at private resorts, and trips to exclusive venues. ProPublica reported a single 2019 Indonesia trip would have cost over $500,000 to replicate commercially. Two independent bases establish potential tax liability. First, in October 2014, Crow's company paid $133,363 for three properties owned by Thomas, his mother, and his late brother's family. Crow paid three times what comparable properties on the same block sold for. The premium above fair market value constitutes taxable income, yet Thomas never disclosed the sale despite federal law requiring disclosure of real estate transactions exceeding $1,000. Second, these transfers fail the legal test established in Commissioner v. Duberstein, where the Supreme Court ruled transfers only qualify as tax-free gifts if they come from detached and disinterested generosity. Billionaire transfers from politically active donors with interests before the Court fail this standard. Some payments went through Crow Holdings LLC, which took tax deductions. ProPublica's IRS data showed Crow's yacht company reported losses totaling approximately $8 million from 2003 to 2015, with about half flowing to Crow as deductions. When a giver deducts transfers as business expenses, they cannot qualify as gifts under Duberstein. Intent to defraud is demonstrated by Thomas's pattern of concealment. In 1997, he disclosed a private jet flight from Crow on his financial disclosure form, then stopped disclosing such trips for over twenty years despite accepting them virtually every year. After ProPublica published its reporting in April 2023, Thomas amended multiple years of financial disclosures to include only what journalists had already found. Seven ethics law experts told ProPublica the law clearly required disclosure, and six other federal judges disclosed similar gifts during the same period. The Senate Judiciary Committee's December 2024 report concluded Thomas chose to ignore legal obligations to disclose lavish gifts after media scrutiny over his disclosures in 2004. No constitutional provision grants Supreme Court Justices immunity from state criminal prosecution for personal conduct. In 1973, a federal jury convicted sitting Judge Otto Kerner on tax fraud charges while he remained on the bench. The Seventh Circuit held a federal judge can face indictment and trial before impeachment, and the Supreme Court declined to review the case. Tax years 2020 through 2024 remain within the five-year statute of limitations under Section 58.1-348, with the 2020 return prosecutable until May 1, 2026. An investigation with subpoena power could obtain Thomas's actual tax returns, Crow Holdings financial records, bank records, and testimony from his tax preparer. I urge you to call for a full investigation into these allegations and support impeachment proceedings if the evidence warrants. No Justice should be above the law, and the integrity of our highest court demands accountability.