Harlan Crow, the 74-year-old Dallas billionaire and actual property mogul, is shut associates with Supreme Court docket Justice Clarence Thomas and items given as a part of that friendship are actually elevating eyebrows about doable violations of monetary disclosure legal guidelines.
Crow is chairman of the board of Dallas-based Crow Holdings, the non-public household workplace of the Trammell Crow household with greater than $16 billion in property below administration that span greater than 850 properties all through the US.
The nonprofit information group ProPublica reported that Crow gave Thomas luxurious journeys that weren’t disclosed by the conservative justice to the general public in what seems to be a violation of a monetary disclosure legislation. Crow, a mega donor for the Republican occasion, put Thomas up at his non-public resort and different unique retreats, flew the Supreme Court docket justice on his non-public jet and hosted Thomas on holidays in his 162-foot superyacht, amongst journeys that span twenty years, in accordance with the ProPublica report based mostly on dozens of interviews and paperwork.
Justices are required to publicly report any items valued at greater than $415 or something of worth that is not absolutely reimbursed, in accordance with submitting directions for the judiciary. There are some exceptions to this basic rule, together with having dinner or staying at a pal’s home. Nevertheless, transportation comparable to non-public jets and journey by superyacht aren’t exempt and must be disclosed, in accordance with the judiciary disclosure directions.
Representatives for the Supreme Court docket and Thomas, who has served on the nation’s highest courtroom since 1991, didn’t instantly reply to requests to remark. In response to ProPublica’s article Thursday, Crow emailed a written assertion to CoStar Information acknowledging the decades-long friendship he and his spouse Kathy have shared with Justice Thomas and his spouse Ginni.
“The hospitality we’ve prolonged to the Thomas’s over time isn’t any totally different from the hospitality we’ve prolonged to our many different pricey associates,” Crow mentioned within the emailed assertion. “We now have been most lucky to have an incredible lifetime of many associates and monetary success, and we’ve at all times positioned a precedence on spending time with our household and associates. Justice Thomas and Ginni by no means requested for any of this hospitality.”
Harlan Crow is the third son of the late Margaret and Trammell Crow. His father, a former Navy man, returned to Dallas after serving in World Struggle II and based Trammell Crow Co. Below his management, the agency rose from creating warehouses to turning into one of many nation’s preeminent improvement companies, creating a few of the tallest skyscrapers in Dallas, together with Trammell Crow Middle and Chase Towerand throughout the nation.
The Texas State Historic Affiliation says Trammell Crow pioneered the thought of “constructing on hypothesis” and utilizing quick lease preparations to boost rents over time. His firm additionally was recognized for forming partnerships to finish initiatives relatively than bear all the chance alone.
The household finally bought the Trammel Crow Co. in 2007 for $2.2 billion to what’s now CBRE, the world’s largest industrial property brokerage.
Harlan Crow joined his father in actual property in 1974 after incomes a bachelor’s diploma from the College of Texas at Austin. He took the helm of Crow Holdings in 1988 to handle the household’s fortune.
A part of that legacy was creating Previous Parkland, an unique workplace campus in Dallas constructed on what was as soon as a hospital. There, Harlan Crow turned his fascination with historical past into a piece of actual property artwork. After shopping for the property in 2006, he reimagined what was as soon as a plot of land surrounding the primary brick hospital in Texas, in-built 1913, into a contemporary campus that has turn out to be a sought-after workplace tackle for personal household workplaces, high-net-worth people and wealth managers.
“The Crow title is synonymous with high quality and considered in probably the most utmost regard when it comes to fame,” mentioned one Dallas actual property government, who spoke about Harlan Crow on the situation his title wouldn’t be utilized in a narrative in regards to the ProPublica report.
Nods to Americana function all through an urban-style workplace campus that continues to increase to at the present time. The event consists of greater than 600,000 sq. toes of house all through a number of buildings on a campus full of stone sculptures, bronze statues and murals — many depicting historic figures — manicured gardens and reflecting swimming pools.
That love of historical past has spilled over into Harlan Crow’s private house in Dallas that has a big assortment of Americana. Throughout a house tour a number of years in the past for an area newspaperHarlan Crow provided a glimpse into his assortment, together with a 1493 pamphlet based mostly on Christopher Columbus’ hand-written letter to King Ferdinand and William Pierce’s hand-written notes from the Constitutional Conference in 1787.
Harlan Crow’s appreciation of historical past is clear in at the least one reward ProPublica mentioned he gave Thomas that the justice disclosed: a $19,000 Bible that after belonged to Frederick Douglass.
Harlan Crow mentioned within the assertion that he and his spouse have by no means requested a couple of pending or decrease courtroom case or mentioned one with Justice Thomas throughout their friendship.
“We now have by no means sought to affect Justice Thomas on any authorized or political concern,” and he was unaware of any associates of their circle of ever lobbying or looking for to affect the justice on any case, and he “would by no means invite anybody who I imagine had any intention of doing that,” Harlan Crow mentioned.
On quite a few events, Harlan Crow mentioned he and his spouse “made contributions to initiatives celebrating the life and legacy of Justice Thomas,” like they’ve performed with different leaders. None of this was on the request of the justice or his spouse Ginni, he added.
“We did so as a result of we imagine Justice Thomas to be one of many biggest People of our time, and we imagine you will need to ensure as many individuals as doable find out about him, keep in mind him, and perceive the beliefs for which he stands,” Crow mentioned. “We’ll proceed to assist initiatives that advance this objective.”
Via a spokesman on his behalf, Crow declined additional remark to CoStar Information exterior of the emailed response Thursday.
Nancy Gertner, a retired federal choose appointed by President Invoice Clinton, informed ProPublica that it is “incomprehensible” that somebody would settle for these sorts of undisclosed items as a sitting choose. When she was on the bench, Gertner mentioned she was so cautious about appearances that she would not point out her title when making dinner reservations.
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