Jan 14, 2025 Story by: Editor
On Wednesday, January 8, ProPublica updated the Supreme Connections database with fresh entries sourced from recently released financial disclosures by Supreme Court justices. Additionally, the database includes five filings from 2003 to 2007 that were previously missing from our records.
Supreme Connections is an accessible database designed to allow users to explore the financial disclosures of justices and search for connections to individuals and companies mentioned in those disclosures.
This latest update includes data from eight disclosures made public last Friday, covering the 2023 calendar year. However, it does not include data for Justice Samuel Alito, who was granted a 90-day extension.
The update also incorporates details about two 2019 vacations retroactively added by Justice Clarence Thomas. These vacations, which were paid for by billionaire Harlan Crow, had not been disclosed by Thomas previously. ProPublica was the first to report on these vacations, along with a range of other significant gifts received from various billionaires. Thomas had initially argued that he was not required to disclose such gifts.
Further, we have added data from a 2003 filing from Justice Alito, as well as information from Chief Justice John Roberts’ filings for 2004 to 2007. These filings were previously obtained by Judicial Watch and archived by the Internet Archive. While federal ethics laws mandate that judges file these disclosures annually, the law stipulates that most disclosures be destroyed after six years, which has made earlier records difficult to locate.
In total, this update adds $50,000 worth of disclosed gifts, including concert tickets given to Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson by Beyoncé herself. It also includes 18 new individuals and organizations, as well as over 200 new connections related to book deals, trips, and reimbursements. Source: ProPublica
