Conservative Justice Clarence Thomas took lavish vacations with a billionaire who criticized student-loan forgiveness months before the Supreme Court struck it down, new report says

• A new ProPublica report found Clarence Thomas has accepted more undisclosed gifts from billionaires.
• One of those billionaires was David Sokol, who has publicly opposed student-debt relief.

From being treated to the first Nebraska football game of the season to getting serenaded by a Wyoming campfire, a new report said conservative Justice Clarence Thomas is no stranger to luxury vacations.

And one of the billionaires that funded some of those trips was a vocal opponent of student-loan forgiveness.

On Thursday, ProPublica released an investigation that revealed new information on the gifts billionaires have given Thomas over the years. According to the report, the gifts have included at least 38 vacations, 26 private jet flights, VIP passes to sporting events, and private stays at luxury resorts — and ethics experts told ProPublica the justice had violated the law by failing to disclose some of those gifts.

One of the funders of those gifts was David Sokol, a billionaire and former executive at Berkshire Hathaway. According to the report, Sokol had treated Thomas to five Nebraska sporting events in recent years, and he flew Thomas by private jet to his ranch in Jackson Hole, Wyoming in 2019.

Sokol has also been a vocal opponent of President Joe Biden's student-debt relief plans. During a speech in October where Thomas was not in attendance, Sokol criticized Biden's plan to cancel up to $20,000 in student debt for federal borrowers, reportedly saying during his remarks obtained by ProPublica that "it's going to get overturned by the Supreme Court."

Months later, the Supreme Court in June indeed struck down the student-debt relief, with Thomas voting in the majority. Sokol told ProPublica that he has "never once discussed any pending court matter" with Thomas.

"Our conversations have always revolved around helping young people, sports, and family matters," he said.

This is not the first time Thomas has come under fire for accepting undisclosed gifts from billionaires. In April, ProPublica published a separate investigation on the luxury trips Thomas was gifted by Harlan Crow, a Republican megadonor, to which Thomas released a statement saying that he "sought guidance from my colleagues and others in the judiciary, and was advised that this sort of personal hospitality from close personal friends, who did not have business before the Court, was not reportable."

"I have endeavored to follow that counsel throughout my tenure, and have always sought to comply with the disclosure guidelines," he said.

And Thomas is not the only justice who has faced this scrutiny. In June, ProPublica reported that conservative Justice Sam Alito took a luxury fishing trip with billionaire Paul Singer, who donated to an organization that opposed student-debt relief. Alito preempted the report by publishing an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal, saying that "on no occasion have we discussed the activities of his businesses, and we have never talked about any case or issue before the Court."

While the justices have denied acting improperly through their relationships with billionaires, some lawmakers have been pushing for reform. Last month, Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee passed a bill that would create a code of ethics for Supreme Court justices, but it's unlikely the bill will pass under a Republican-controlled House.

Liberal Justice Elena Kagan also appears to be on board with reforming the court, saying during remarks last week that "it just can't be that the court is the only institution that somehow is not subject to checks and balances from anybody else. We're not imperial. Can Congress do various things to regulate the Supreme Court? I think the answer is: yes."