Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas confirmed Friday he had repeatedly accepted travel from a wealthy Republican donor over more than two decades of friendship, but added that he did not have to report the gifts on annual financial disclosure forms.

Thomas has come under fire since ProPublica reported Thursday that the 74-year-old had often traveled aboard Harlan Crow’s superyacht and personal jet — even vacationing at the billionaire’s private resort in the Adirondacks.

The outlet said that some of the excursions would have cost more than $500,000 if the justice and his wife, conservative activist Virginia “Ginni” Thomas, had paid for themselves.

“Harlan and Kathy Crow are among our dearest friends, and we have been friends for over twenty-five years. As friends do, we have joined them on a number of family trips during the more than quarter century we have known them,” Thomas said in a statement issued by the high court.

“Early in my tenure at the Court, I 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.”

The conservative justice explained that the guidelines on reportable gifts changed last month — and that he plans “to follow this guidance in the future.”

In addition to the luxe vacations, Crow, a real estate developer from Dallas, also reportedly gave the Thomases generous gifts, including a portrait by Montreal-based illustrator Sharif Tarabay and a $19,000 Bible that belonged to Frederick Douglass. 

A law passed in 1978, following the Watergate scandal, requires government officials — including Supreme Court justices, federal judges, and members of Congress — to give a report on their finances every year. 

Effective March 14, justices are required to disclose gifts and free stays at commercial properties, or when gifts of hospitality are being reimbursed by a third party who is not the person providing it.

Food, lodging, or entertainment received as “personal hospitality of any individual” does not need to be reported if it is at the personal residence of that individual or their family.

In a statement shared with ProPublica, Crow said his treatment of Clarence and Ginni Thomas was “no different from the hospitality we have extended to our many other dear friends.”

“We have never asked about a pending or lower court case, and Justice Thomas has never discussed one, and we have never sought to influence Justice Thomas on any legal or political issue,” he continued, noting that he feels Thomas is “one of the greatest Americans of our time” and remains committed to endowing his legacy.

Thomas is not the only high-ranking government official to receive perks from wealthy associates.

President Biden, for example, rang in 2023 in St. Croix, US Virgin Islands, at a beachfront villa owned by business owners Bill and Connie Neville, who had previously attended a White House state dinner.

The accommodations were provided to the Bidens by the Nevilles for free.

The president has also stayed gratis on several occasions at the nine-bedroom Kiawah Island, SC, home of donor Maria Allwin, and posted up twice at the $20 million Nantucket home of billionaire private equity czar David Rubenstein  — without mentioning the stays on financial disclosure forms. 

Richard Painter, the chief White House ethics lawyer under President George W. Bush, told The Post in December that people are “almost never” prosecuted for false statements on disclosure forms because it’s “very hard” to prove gifts were omitted with an intent to deceive.

With Steven Nelson