Many RVers know that U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas is an avid RVer. For some years Justice Thomas has owned and traveled in a motorhome with his wife on their vacation time. However, Justice Thomas’ motorhome has now become the focal point of the Senate Finance Committee.
Questions about Justice Thomas’ motorhome
What does the committee want to know about Justice Thomas’ motorhome? The magnifying glass is on how the Justice acquired the motorhome. The big coach is a Prevost Le Mirage XL Marathon that Justice Thomas bought in 1999. It’s not so much how he bought the luxury coach—that much is already known. Evidently, the Justice took a shine to the rig that he saw for sale in Phoenix, Arizona. Media reports speculate that Thomas couldn’t float a bank loan, and that a close friend of the family, Anthony Welters, provided a $267,000 loan to help buy the rig.
The question that the Senate Finance Committee wants answered is this: Did Justice Thomas pay off the loan? Last August, Welters, who is the executive vice-president of UnitedHealth Group (UHG) and the vice chair of New York University’s board of trustees, told the New York Times that the loan had been “satisfied.” He did not explain just how the loan was satisfied, just that it had been.
Was the loan repaid?
In a report by NPR, a Democratic staff memorandum shows Thomas “made some interest payments on the loan, but there is no indication the actual loan was repaid.” The committee also found that the Justice didn’t put the loan on his ethics disclosure forms. Additionally, it’s not known whether or not he reported the apparent loan forgiveness to the Internal Revenue Service. That’s a key point, as such forgiveness must be disclosed, as it would be considered taxable income.
So what does the Senate Finance Committee want to know about the deal surrounding Justice Thomas’ motorhome? Committee chairman Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, said, “Justice Thomas should inform the committee exactly how much debt was forgiven, and whether he properly reported the loan forgiveness on his tax returns and paid all taxes owed.”
KOAs and Walmarts
Just how old Justice Thomas’ Prevost is isn’t clear (possibly 1992, according to a report from June 27, 2022, in the Washington Examiner). Anthony Welters said that the rig was “used” when purchased in 1999. The photo we’ve included is a stock image of a 1997 Prevost, NOT the rig owned by the Justice. As we’ve published before, Justice Thomas and his wife have been spotted tooling around the U.S. in the coach, frequenting KOAs and Walmart parking lots.
SUNDAY EVENING NOTE FROM EDITOR: We are closing comments. This has turned into a political rant by some readers. Enough has been said.
##RVT1128b
I can give a gift to anyone without them having to pay taxes on it up to a certain amount. Say it is $10k (actually $17k this year but less in prior years). Both husband and wife so $20k a year. Over 13 years that covers the cost of the RV so nothing to see here.
I had to fill out those disclosure forms as a federal employee years ago and I don’t remember them ever asking about gifts except from foreigners. I was told I was being rude not accepting a small gift from a vendor in Italy so I took a small vase and donated it as a bingo prize.
I wonder if he or his wife drive their rig, or if someone moves it around for them and they fly to meet it? I guess we don’t move in the right circles; we’ve never knowingly seen them or their rig.
I hope that RV Travel has a follow up story that the Motor home was bought and paid for by the Thomas’s! The Government committee discovered that it was paid for and NPR jumped to speculations and innuendo’s.
Why is it we’re all for following the rules when it comes to members of our own tribe, but its a witch hunt or political persecution when its a member of our own tribe?
Is it unreasonable to expect a member of SCOTUS to avoid placing him or herself into a position that may call into question partiality or the appearance of a conflict of interest? Or that they follow the same rules as the rest of the judiciary? Or that they pay the same taxes as the rest of us when given a huge gift in the form of a loan write-off. If all this is true, the Thomas’s aren’t exactly the folksy skimmed and scraped RV owners they made themselves out to be. And its the job of a free press to call it out.
NPR is free press?
Who would you say has a boot on their neck, Cancel? I believe about 1% of their funding is from the Federal Government and less than 10% indirectly from other government sources. Find me a
news entity without some degree of bias based on who wants to work for them, who they hire and the interests of their audience, and I’ll gladly add them to my list of sources. I’d far rather be informed rather than uninformed of hypocrisy and potential malfeasance than not be, regardless of the source. I count excellent sources on both sides of the divide. If you aren’t reading some of both, you aren’t getting the big picture. In this case NPR is reporting on a Senate oversight investigation underway.
Then we agree. Thank you.
Perhaps you can share with us an NPR story we may have missed on the Senate’s investigation into over 700 suspicious activity reports on over 13 shell companies owned by the Bidens. Maybe an investigative piece by NPR on the accounts that $30-$50 million that was funneled thru, oh yeah and the taxes paid.
NPR =National Pravda Radio.
How many suspicious activity reports does the average American generate in a lifetime? Any guess?
C’mon man, your smarter than that.
Nice soundbite, Cancel.
Let’s see what comes out of it. For now, we have investigations, not proof
I’d rather know what taxpayer dollars are being spent on be it to get to the facts, or puff up the brand of the latest ringmaster in the legislative circus, than not. Even if it is egged on by a so-called base more interested in scoring political points than actually legislating.
https://www.npr.org/2023/09/19/1200364227/impeac7hment-house-republicans-president-biden-hearing.
https://www.npr.org/2022/04/09/1091859822/more-details-emerge-in-federal-investigation-into-hunter-biden
https://www.npr.org/2023/02/02/1153912362/house-republicans-begin-investigations-into-president-biden
A. While interesting, those radio broadcast links did not once discuss the evidence or even attempt to connect dots to inform an audience. No journalistic curiosity. Those pseudo journalists discussed the investigators and the Republican tactics of using investigation and the politics of investigation, simply running interference, never discussing actual findings of the investigations. Not once did they reference the SARS reports or….
B. Accusations are all it takes when your a Democrat accusing a Republican. Ask not just Thomas, but now we have the attempted lynching of Kavanaugh too.
If one wants evidence, one needs a deeper dive. I daresay, regardless of who is doing the investigating, there will be complaints of bias and/or insufficient airing of “facts”. In any of these cases, we are far from a complete picture. For those so inclined, the final reports and underlying testimony and evidence should make good reading.
I won’t engage in whataboutism with either side of the divide. Suffice it to say, there is plenty of outrage, indignation, and a catalog of each others “witch hunts” or fact finding to go around.
Once again, we find agreement. 👍🌞
Let’s see some proof.
If you can’t see it already then your not interested in seeing it at all and thus, not even I can help with your recovery.
What about owning multiple multi-million dollars homes on a politicians salary? This does not pass the smell test.
Yes Don W. In order to pay $3 million cash for a beach house, you first need to earn AN EXTRA $6 million before tax in order to have $3 million left over, disposable to pay cash. That’s over and above annual costs to survive. That $3 million is an EXTRA $3 MILLION, after tax. I know old Joe has been around awhile but at $60k/year take home, Joe would have to work 100 years as a senator with 100% of his take home pay going towards the Rehoboth Beach house. That dog doesn’t hunt.
Either we need to see the $3 million in taxes that was paid or at least pay stubs for $6 million of bonus income.
Really guys, instead of trafficking in innuendo and conspiracies, maybe you can just go to his financial disclosures to figure out how he could afford a beach home. Fact, politicians make lots of money from books and speaking fees after leaving office. Joe Biden made lots from both. You’ll easily find it in his financial disclosures and the tax returns made public (imagine that!)
https://www.forbes.com/sites/michelatindera/2020/10/22/how-the-bidens-earned-167-million-after-leaving-the-white-house/
If you think there’s more to it, knock your socks off. But income earned in the couple of years out of office buys a beach home.
Hmm Joseph..I’m impressed to read that there is ONE person in this whole country that believes Biden and his family is honest…Laughable
No one cares about the publicity disclosed income, IT WAS PUBLICLY DISCLOSED.
People are worried about the $30,000,000 – $50,000,000 from the Russians, the Chineese, the Romanians and the Ukrainians. What product did the 17 shell companies provide for that kind of coinage?
Yes.
Yes. And much as CNN, Fox News, ABC, CBS, a thousand newspapers and magazines, etc., and the CBC in Canada and the BBC in the U.K.
Thank God our Founding Fathers created 3 Separate but equal branches of government in our Constitution as they can police their own members. The Senators and Congressmen shouldn’t really be throwing stones themselves.
The left have been trying to tear this man down since his nomination in 1991.
Simply fact.
Once “The Government” decides to go after you you’re pretty much screwed.
“They” have unlimited resources to find “‘something” you’ve done that they don’t like.
Bought my Pastor an E-Bike. Pretty sure that’s not going to get me into Heaven.
I will be looking forward to the article about the Bidens Chinese millions—there must be an RV tie in somewhere.
How about any of the following dot connections;
A) I once camped next to a green 67 corvette on a trailer behind a Prevost driven by a Ukranian Oligarch.
B) We can find nothing from NPR disproving the assertion that Biden originally was going to buy a Prevost with his $10 million of Chinese cash.
C) Gypsy RVers at our campfire were not related to Romanians that gave the Bidens $3 million in brides.
D) Do BLM and ANTIFA openly support RV loan forgiveness similar to Joe Biden’s unconstitutional transfer of Student Loan debt to the poor?
E) Are billion dollar yachts, similar to one’s owned by the Russian Oligarchs that gave the Biden family over $10 million in bribes, just lavish RVs?
The lesson for all is when the left’s “high tech lynching” failed the first 7 times, know they won’t give up. They have lots of room left on the Democrat plantation.
Why is this story here? It involves an rv and that’s it. The rest is political. And it’s clearly in favor of the left. Thanks. Another thing politics is polluting: rv’ing
Interesting a man who ruled against student loan forgiveness gets his loan forgiven. 🤔
First off, it hasn’t been proven that the loan was forgiven, second, the loan wasn’t provided by US citizens.
In 1968 and 1969 I was randomly killing people in southeast Asia at the direction of and with the assistance of, not to mention payment by, the Federal Government. Sure glad that the leftists aren’t coming for my position of power decades later. Oh… that’s right. I’m not in a position of power. Never mind. Nothing to see here.
I served in combat in the Mekong Delta and was wounded in action twice, with two Purple Hearts awarded, but never “randomly” killed people! Combat is opposing enemies fighting each other, and war was intense but specific. I also delivered 12 babies, as a Combat Medic, when no midwife in a village was available, and treated hundreds of different villagers for all sorts of medical ailments.
Thank you for your service.
We thank you both for your service and thank God you made it home.
Thank you for your service.
The left is seeking to force Justice Thomas to retire so that Biden can appoint a leftist successor. They are desperate to shift SCOTUS back to a liberal majority court as it had been for so many years.
I thought this newsletter was not political. Digging dirt up on a black man the left wants to destroy has no place here. A story about how a Supreme Court justice loves to rv is awesome and could have been left there.
Agreed. The left doesn’t care about leftist judges, they only want to smear conservatives. I, for one, love Justice Thomas and think he’s the best one on the Court.
Yep, it could have been left there, Terry. But that wasn’t the whole story, unfortunately. It will be interesting to see where it goes. Have a good day. 😀 –Diane at RVtravel.com
This was 24 years ago, and the dems dug this up out of the dirt? A statute of time limitations would have applied 20 years ago, if it were a dem.
Yep…they are hoping to find something…anything… to have Thomas removed from the bench so they can get a liberal justice in his seat. Funny how they have no evidence but make statements about “loan forgiveness” that may not have occurred.
This really isn’t an RV topic and shouldn’t have been published here. Just encourages us to discuss the politics involved in this situation.
Agreed…
The Democrats have been trying to lynch Thomas since he was nominated to the court. A black man who is not a Democrat is clearly against the rules and must be destroyed.
The demoncraps really dig deep to try to find something on a conservative to try and hide all their criminal activity, such as insider trading on stocks. People who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones!
To bad they aren’t looking into the other side since this is obviously a political issue.
Don’t care what “side” we are talking about. Just follow the same rules I do.
Exactly. And this story is just a piece of the puzzle emerging about this particular individual.
It’s not political. It doesn’t make any difference if you are conservative, liberal (or centrist like me). Our people in power need to follow the law. Being on the “take” corrupts, or at least gives the impression of corruption. Thomas has a pattern of taking large (in this case over $250K) gifts from wealthy people who become “friends” he met after he became a Supreme Court justice.This story is believable because of many corrections Thomas has had to make to most of his previous annual disclosures. He doesn’t deny the reports, and he makes corrected disclosures only after his gifts are revealed by the media. It’s ok to have this story in RV Travel since they have covered his RV in the past
Agree!