Question 1

Who is Harlan Crow?

Accepted Answer

Crow is a real estate businessman in Dallas and the chairman of Crow Holdings, a family business that manages the capital of the family, according to its website. He started with the company as an industrial leasing agent and took over leadership of the business in 1988. He also serves on the board of several organizations, including the Supreme Court Historical Society and the American Enterprise Institute, a right-leaning think tank.

Question 2

Where did he make his money?

Accepted Answer

His father, Trammell Crow, created a commercial real estate company that was once the “country’s largest landlord,” according to the Wall Street Journal. When the younger Crow took over, the company was reportedly near bankruptcy and he restructured it. The Trammell Crow Co. is now a subsidiary of large real estate firm CBRE, which agreed to buy the smaller company for about $2 billion in 2006.

Question 3

What is the extent of Crow’s political involvement?

Accepted Answer

ProPublica reports that Crow has been a major Republican donor for years, giving more than $10 million in political donations. The actual number may be higher, the publication reports, because of “dark money” donations to groups that don’t publicly disclose their contributors. The investigation says Crow, who has donated to the Federalist Society, has “long supported efforts to move the judiciary to the right.”

Question 4

What is Crow’s relationship to Clarence Thomas?

Accepted Answer

In a statement Crow provided to ProPublica, Crow said he and his wife Kathy have known Clarence and Ginni Thomas since 1996, describing them as “very dear friends.” He said the hospitality he provided them is no different than that which they extended to their other close friends. “We have been most fortunate to have a great life of many friends and financial success, and we have always placed a priority on spending time with our family and friends,” Crow wrote, adding that he had not sought to influence Thomas on any legal or political issue. ProPublica’s Thursday report is not the first to draw attention to Crow’s relationship with Thomas. In 2011, the New York Times reported that Crow had done favors for Thomas and his wife, specifically financing a multimillion-dollar restoration of a cannery in Pin Point, Ga., which was a pet project of the justice. The Times also reported that Crow financed a library dedicated to Thomas in Savannah, Ga., and presented him with a Bible that had belonged to Frederick Douglass. It also reported that Crow had provided $500,000 for Ginni Thomas to start a political organization. Crow, in his statement to ProPublica, said neither Clarence nor Ginni Thomas asked for any of the hospitality they provided. “We did so because we believe Justice Thomas to be one of the greatest Americans of our time, and we believe it is important to make sure as many people as possible learn about him, remember him, and understand the ideals for which he stands,” Crow wrote.

Who is Harlan Crow, the GOP megadonor who vacations with Justice Thomas?