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- Clarence Thomas benefactor Harlan Crow has an art collection that includes Nazi memorabilia, the Washingtonian reported.
- A visitor to Crow's home also remarked on the numerous statues of reviled 20th Century leaders in his garden.
- A bombshell ProPublica report revealed that Thomas had taken undisclosed trips funded by Crow for more than 20 years.
Harlan Crow, the GOP megadonor and billionaire benefactor to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, has a collection of Adolf Hitler artifacts and Nazi memorabilia that he keeps at his Texas home, according to the Washingtonian.
The magazine reported that Crow's collection includes two of Hitler's paintings, a signed copy of Mein Kampf, the fascist dictator's 1925 manifesto, other Nazi trinkets, and a garden filled with statues of some of the most reviled leaders from the 20th Century.
Crow has reportedly said he maintains the controversial collection because he despises communism and fascism.
"I still can't get over the collection of Nazi memorabilia," an individual who has remained anonymous and who attended an event at Crow's home told the magazine. "It would have been helpful to have someone explain the significance of all the items. Without that context, you sort of just gasp when you walk into the room."
The individual said that among the paintings, there was "something done by George W. Bush next to a Norman Rockwell next to one by Hitler," while adding that it was "startling" and "strange" to view such sculptures at the posh residence.
In 2014, a Dallas Morning News reporter visited the home as part of a public tour of historic homes, where Crow sought to avoid questions about the statues and steer the tour toward his ornate library — along with paintings by Renoir and Monet and sculptures of former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Margaret Thatcher.
When the Morning News reporter finally saw the garden of dictator statues, Crow described it as an acknowledgment of the inhumanity that some men have shown to others.
The news of Crow's collection comes after a bombshell ProPublica report, which detailed how Thomas has taken luxury vacations funded by the megadonor for more than 20 years without disclosing the excursions. Two ethics law experts told the publication that Thomas appears to have violated a law passed after the 1970s-era Watergate scandal that requires members of the judiciary and members of Congress to report most gifts.
Thomas, in a response to revelations about the previously undisclosed trips, said that he was advised that it wasn't necessary to report "this sort of personal hospitality."
"Harlan and Kathy Crow are among our dearest friends, and we have been friends for over 25 years. As friends do, we have joined them on a number of family trips during the more than quarter century we have known them," the justice said in a statement released by the Supreme Court's press office.
Thomas said that going forward, he would follow new guidelines set forth by the Judicial Conference of the United States, which requires that justices report any travel by private aircraft as well as excursions to destinations, including resorts and hunting lodges.