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Justice Thomas' billionaire benefactor Harlan Crow donated to Manchin, Sinema, 'Unbreakable Nine' [1]
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Date: 2023-06-07
Billionaire Texas real-estate mogul Harlan Crow has reluctantly emerged into the national spotlight after ProPublica revealed the largess he has bestowed on Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. Crow’s lawyers have rejected a request from Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Dick Durbin to provide a list of Crow’s gifts to Thomas. ProPublica, however, revealed that these extravagant gifts included private jet trips, megayacht excursions, lavish vacations, a $19,000 Bible that once belonged to abolitionist Frederick Douglass, and several properties for Thomas, including the house where the justice’s mother still lives.
Crow and his wife, Kathy, have for decades been GOP megadonors, contributing millions of dollars to Republican candidates and campaign committees over the past three decades, according to OpenSecrets, the nonpartisan, independent group that tracks money in politics. But Federal Election Commission records reveal that the Crows have also donated several hundred thousand dollars to a select group of congressional Democrats during this same period, OpenSecrets reported.
These Democrats are known for blocking their party’s more progressive initiatives, including President Joe Biden’s ambitious Build Back Better economic agenda in 2021-2022. They include Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, who last December switched her affiliation to independent, as well as a group of moderate to conservative House Democrats, including Reps. Henry Cuellar of Texas and Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey.
Crow is also a megadonor to No Labels, the supposedly nonpartisan centrist group that wants to launch a third-party unity presidential campaign in 2024 with one Republican and one Democrat on the ticket. Democrats fear that these efforts will siphon enough votes to help Donald Trump or another Republican candidate defeat Biden in a close election.
RELATED STORY: Harlan Crow's lawyer grudgingly agrees to talk
The New Republic reported that it had obtained a document with figures showing that Crow donated over $130,000 to No Labels between 2019 and 2021.
Crow was considered a “whale”-level donor by the organization—an august status reserved for only the most generous donors. Crow referred other donors to No Labels, ones who earned the “whale,” “dolphin,” and lesser “minnow” status. By 2021, Crow had steered nearly two dozen other donors to No Labels, the information provided to The New Republic shows.
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OpenSecrets has published a lengthy list of Crow’s donations based on federal campaign finance data. These donations have maximum caps. The transparency group added:
“Crow has also contributed to groups that keep their donors secret, ProPublica reported, making it impossible to know how much and to which ‘dark money’ groups he has contributed.”
Business Insider reported on Crow’s donations to Sinema and Manchin:
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