Thomas, who has forgotten more vacations than you'll ever know, has been the subject of a Senate Judiciary inquiry ever since ProPublica first identified around half a million in luxury travel and gifts without disclosing any of it as legally required by the Ethics in Government Act of 1978. [...] Almost two years after the fact, the Conference has decided to do nothing instead.
In a letter from the Judicial Conference to Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, Secretary of the Judicial Conference Judge Robert Conrad said that they'd decided against doing anything because Thomas was probably just confused about how to read the plain meaning of a law. A plausible excuse based upon his jurisprudence generally, but highly suspect here.
The Financial Disclosure Committee, with the approval of the Judicial Conference, issued guidance that the personal hospitality gift reporting exemption applies only to food, lodging, or entertainment. The exemption, it explained, does not apply to gifts of 'transportation that substitute[] for commercial transportation,' gifts 'extended for a business purpose,' or gifts 'extended at a commercial property, e.g., a resort or restaurant.
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