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Apex boss plays close to the vest

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ST. LOUIS – In the midst of a takeover battle for Busch Memorial Stadium two decades ago, Paul Anthony Novelly was walking out of the ballpark with his lawyer when a newspaper photographer tried to snap his picture.

In a classic Novelly move, he quickly raised a briefcase to shield his face from the camera.

Now at the center of another very public takeover battle – control of Crown Central Petroleum Corp. in Baltimore – Novelly is still trying to avoid the limelight.

The owner of privately held Apex Oil Co. does not give interviews, executives at his company are reticent about providing even the most basic information regarding holdings and sales, and his generous charitable contributions come with the caveat that they not be publicized.

Even his hometown newspaper, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, calls him “super secretive.”

But there’s more to Novelly than just a passion for privacy.

Friends and associates say he has an uncanny ability to analyze a deal from every angle, that he’s completely at home in the volatile world of oil markets, fiercely loyal, a family man and shy socially but aggressive in business transactions.

“You need to understand that he is a trader,” said Dennis A. Ferrazzano, a Chicago attorney who worked for Novelly and has maintained a friendship. “Traders are a breed apart – they’re people who need to be willing to take risks. And you take risks based on your judgment and you don’t invest emotionally too much and you learn to cut your losses and make money.

“It’s not for the fainthearted,” Ferrazzano said. “And he is an oil trader at heart.”

Novelly’s overtures to Crown – both a merger proposal and a buyout offer at $10.50 a share – were originally rebuffed by the independent board of the Baltimore refiner, a company whose roots in the city go back 70 years. But after shareholders rejected Crown’s $9.50 a share bid to take itself private in August, the board invited Novelly to make a $10.50, all-cash, fully financed, unconditional tender offer for all outstanding shares. Crown has said if an offer isn’t on the table by Tuesday, the invitation will be withdrawn and the company will no longer be on the market.

It is still unclear whether Crown Chairman Henry A. Rosenberg Jr. and his family, who control 45 percent of the shares, would approve the tender offer. And, as is generally the case with him, no one can say what Novelly’s next move will be.

The Apex chief is one of the most famous question marks in St. Louis – many know his name, few know much about him. He is generally regarded as someone who lives well and spreads the wealth.

He owns two Mercedes, a Chevrolet Suburban, a Jaguar, a Porsche and a Gulfstream IV jet, which goes for about $25 million.

The 57-year-old Novelly – friends call him Tony – calls at least three places home, with two houses outside St. Louis and another in Florida where he keeps one of his two 100-foot-plus yachts. He has a long-term lease on a villa in southern France, where he spends a good deal of time collecting wine.

Two years ago, he agreed to donate his five-bedroom, 6 1/2 -bathroom home and 20 acres outside St. Louis (estimated to be worth about $7 million) to the Catholic high school he attended, which is relocating to the site.

The Archdiocese of St. Louis considers him to be an “Associate of the Archbishop,” after he gave somewhere between $10,000 and $49,000. His college alma mater, St. Louis University, is also a beneficiary of his fortunes, although officials there won’t reveal how much he gives other than to say Novelly is “very generous.”

Although many call Novelly a financial genius, not all his endeavors have been successful. Apex was forced to file for bankruptcy on Christmas Eve of 1987 in the face of falling oil prices and nervous creditors. There were allegations of hidden capital and fraud, although no charges were ever filed. The controversial case is literally a textbook example of bankrupt owners buying back their own assets at a discount.

The bankruptcy, though, didn’t tarnish his reputation.

“It just enhances his mystique,” said friend Adolphus Busch IV, son of the late Anheuser-Busch Cos. Inc. Chairman August Busch Jr., who said Novelly has led an incredible life. “He had the ability to start at the very bottom and realize all his dreams and more.”

Novelly says his parents instilled in him a strong work ethic, according to a biography compiled this year when Novelly won the 2000 Horatio Alger Award, which is given to people who have succeeded in the face of adversity.

His father was a printer and his mother worked in factories and restaurants. The family, which included Novelly’s younger brother and sister, who had Down syndrome and died at age 11, lived in a working-class neighborhood in west St. Louis.

Novelly began working at age 7, stacking bottles and sweeping floors at a local confectionary. He bagged groceries to pay his way through Christian Brothers College, a Catholic military high school a few miles from his house. He made his way to school each day on buses and by hitchhiking.

“I was the kid who had to work for what little I had and I was jealous of the other kids,” Novelly said in the biography. “I guess you could say I had a chip on my shoulder, and I got into a few fistfights over it.”

He also worked his way through St. Louis University, graduating in 1965 with a bachelor’s degree in commerce. His first job after graduation was approving credit cards at Shell Oil Co. He held 14 jobs at Shell, which transferred him to Chicago. Novelly said he wanted to return to St. Louis, so in 1969 – with a wife, a son and a baby on the way – he interviewed for office manager at Apex Oil, which had only a handful of employees at the time.

Novelly is credited with increasing sales to $13 billion a year and building the work force to more than 9,000 by the late 1980s. He would eventually buy out the shares owned by his boss, Samuel Goldstein, to become sole owner.

Oil prices had just reached their peak when Novelly bought Clark Oil & Refining Corp. for about $540 million in 1981. He negotiated a $700 million revolving-credit line with 12 banks to cover the purchase price and working capital. The move nearly led to Apex’s collapse.

“If you were in the oil business in the 1970s you couldn’t help but make money. Oil went from $2 per barrel in 1972 to $35 a barrel in 1978,” Novelly said in the biography. “If you owned oil in the 1980s, you couldn’t help but lose money. Oil went from $36 a barrel to $10 a barrel by 1986.”

The banks got nervous, and after months of negotiations, Novelly arrived at work just days before Christmas in 1987 to find a note saying his creditors were calling his loans. Fifty-two of the 77 companies under the Apex Holding Co. umbrella went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Dec. 24.

One of the companies not subject to the creditors’ liens, and not included in the bankruptcy filing, was Clark Oil Trading Co., a division Novelly created in 1986 with a loan from a Paris bank.

The court-appointed bankruptcy examiner, in a report that has since been sealed, accused Novelly of moving $125 million out of Apex and into Clark Oil – and out of creditors’ reach – before filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The U.S. attorney’s office investigated allegations of fraud, but in 1992 declined to pursue the case. Apex and its creditors had settled the case in August 1990.

“Had he known that [fraud allegations] would be in every newspaper article about him for the next 20 years, there never would have been a settlement,” Ferrazzano said. “He would have fought it in court because he felt he would win, and I agree.”

Novelly also might not have given the finger to a group of creditors before storming out of a meeting in New York where his fate was being decided not long before his loans were called.

“Bankers … are used to people being supplicants, to people begging,” Ferrazzano said. “Tony is not a beggar under any circumstances. His position was the world has done this to oil prices – it could not be prevented but it could be worked out to get the best value, and he said, ‘Stick with me.’ They were hostile meetings, atypically hostile.”

A former banker involved in the Chapter 11 negotiations, who spoke on the condition his name not be used, said of Novelly: “He’s an astute businessman, but he’s difficult to deal with. He’s got his own way of doing things.”

The bankruptcy case was considered extraordinary because Novelly and Goldstein – who died this year at age 82 – were able to buy Apex’s assets at a discount. They formed a partnership with a Canadian holding company called Horsham Corp. (now TrizecHahn Corp.) and paid about $400 million for the right to collect Apex’s $545 million in debt. The partnership, in which Novelly and Goldstein had a 40 percent stake, then purchased Clark Oil’s gas stations and refineries from Apex in return for the discounted debt. In effect, Apex got rid of $545 million in debt while Novelly’s new partnership got Clark’s assets.

“The Apex transaction was remarkable,” wrote attorneys Chaim J. Fortgang and Thomas Moers Mayer in the October 1990 Cardozo Law Review. “Apex managers found a way to lock up the crown jewel of their own debtor without competition and at minimal risk.”

Novelly eventually separated himself from Clark Oil altogether, selling his share to TrizecHahn in 1992 for $100 million and a Colorado ski resort.

Today, Apex and its subsidiaries are involved in trading, storing, marketing and transporting petroleum products. Apex also has a refinery in California that makes asphalt and jet fuel. Apex’s consolidated annual sales are about $1 billion, and it employs about 200 people, half of whom are in St. Louis.

The offices are in Clayton, a suburb of St. Louis that is home to many national corporations, including Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Earthgrains Co. and Brown Shoe Co. Towering office buildings rise among posh one-story brick shops that offer such items as blown-glass sculptures, antiques, gourmet coffee and trendy gardening tools.

Novelly owns the 12-story brick building that houses Apex’s offices, as well as a larger tower going up next door.

It’s a quick jaunt to Novelly’s primary home, about six miles west of Clayton. There, just yards from a relatively busy road, sits the almond-colored brick home he bought this year on the advice of Adolphus Busch, who lives just up the street.

With six bedrooms, five full bathrooms, two half baths, a swimming pool and 1.6 acres, the home was assessed at $1.4 million last year.

The second Novelly house sits amid a surreal $23 million development of golf courses and homes that range in price from about $300,000 to $4 million. Novelly and his family are the principal investors in the 5,400-acre planned community called St. Albans. His red-brick home, however, does not stand out and is smaller than some that surround it.

Novelly “doesn’t come in and act like he owns all this,” said Mary Schoelich, a clerk at Head’s General Store, which sits in the middle of the development and appears to be straight out of “The Andy Griffith Show.” The store, which has been there for more than 100 years, is not owned by Novelly or his partners. “He’s very nice and very down to earth.”

Novelly is not one for high-powered parties in the first place – his name almost never appears in the social pages of local papers and he is said to not be active in politics – and if it’s a black-tie event, forget it.

“He just wouldn’t go,” said friend and sometime-business partner Mike Ross, chief executive of Union Planters Bank of Missouri. “If he had a party at his house and you wore a sport coat and a polo shirt, that would be perfect. … If you wore jeans, that would be perfect.”

Apex’s offices reflect that laid-back style. The visitors’ entrance opens not into a sterile reception area but into a large open room full of desks separated by gray dividers. Small potted plants and employees’ family photographs are everywhere. Workers wear jeans, sweaters and khakis – and not just on Fridays.

If one were to dine with Novelly, Ross said, the bill would never appear; Novelly would quietly have it taken care of, never letting anyone else pick up a tab. If a couple sitting nearby just became engaged or is celebrating an anniversary, it is not uncommon for Novelly to send over a bottle of Dom Perignon champagne – of course, it’s always anonymous.

“He’s incredible to watch sometimes,” Ross said. “Tony’s style is that he gives away money, but he doesn’t want people to know.”

That’s why the Rev. Lawrence Biondi, president of St. Louis University and a good friend of Novelly’s, will not disclose how much the oilman gives to the school.

He will say that Novelly, head of the college endowment’s investment committee, helped increase the fund by 25 percent to $970 million since he joined in 1997, not including the $275 million the school made on the sale of its hospital.

“He is very generous – it makes me happy,” Biondi said. “He is a very private person and does not like high publicity. I think he’s basically a very humble guy.”

Humble, perhaps, but not one to shy away from the luxuries available to a person of his means. Novelly often takes friends deep-sea fishing in the Bahamas on his yacht, the Le Montracet, which he named after a French white wine.

“It’s like the Ritz-Carlton,” Ross said of the boat, which he estimated to be about 130 feet long.

It includes a master suite, five staterooms, each with a bathroom, quarters for a crew of six and a formal dining room that easily seats 12, Ross said.

Despite living in the middle of a beautiful golf course and the fact that he caddied as a boy, Novelly doesn’t play golf. He is, however, an avid duck hunter. (He gave the conservation group Ducks Unlimited at least $10,000 in the late 1980s.)

Ross said Novelly’s wife of 33 years, Mary Katherine (Kathy), doesn’t generally join her husband in fishing or duck hunting, but the couple, who were college sweethearts, do have a standing date on Saturday nights.

Their daughter and three sons all attended the University of St. Louis (the youngest son is still in school). Novelly insisted they live at home during college, Biondi said, so they could all eat dinner together.

He also required them to work while in high school and college – his sons bagged groceries just as their father had.

But that blue-collar background and assertive style haven’t won him fans across the board.

“A lot of the old money in St. Louis doesn’t want to recognize him. They think he’s too brash,” said Busch. “Ever since I met him, I thought he was interesting and entertaining – he’s a fascinating guy.”

An associate described Novelly as occupying “rarified air.”

“He’s a giant. You say his name in the same breath as you say Bill Gates,” said Jeffrey L. Schwartz, chairman of Traffix Inc. in New York, where Novelly served as a board member when it was called Quintel Communications.

“He’s a private guy and doesn’t talk about himself. You would have a hard time finding out 10 percent of what Tony Novelly is about – he designed it that way.”

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Clarence Thomas Says ‘Unreported’ Yacht Voyage With Oil Baron Seized on by Media Never Happened

U.S. Department of Agriculture, Public Domain Mark 1.0 , via Flickr , Cropped by Resist the Mainstream

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas contested a ProPublica story featuring “a previously unreported voyage on a yacht around the Bahamas,” telling a close friend that it never happened.

On Aug. 10, ProPublica published a report that oil baron Paul “Tony” Novelly’s chauffeur in the Bahamas said his company once drove the justice to the marina where Novelly’s 26-foot luxury yacht, the Le Montrachet, often docks. 

However, on Friday, Mark Paoletta, a Schaerr Jaffe law firm partner and close friend of Thomas, contested the claim in a Friday Wall Street Journal op-ed.

“ProPublica’s claim that Justice Thomas was a passenger on any yacht owned by Tony Novelly, including the Le Montrachet, is completely false,” Paoletta told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “He has never ever laid eyes on this boat. Moreover, Justice Thomas has never been in the Bahamas with Tony Novelly.”

“He last visited the Bahamas in the 1980s, long before he went on the Supreme Court and long before he met Mr. Novelly,” he continued. “There is not a shred of truth to this story.”

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1/My op-ed on @Propublica error-filled smear job on Justice Thomas, falsely claiming Thomas was on yacht in Bahamas with friend. Thomas never on yacht & last in Bahamas was in 1980s, long before he was on Court or met friend. @eisingerj @BrettMmurphy https://t.co/hJ7l9v4YLK — Mark Paoletta (@MarkPaoletta) August 19, 2023

The trip to the Bahamas is one of 38 destination vacations ProPublica claims Thomas has taken in a recent article detailing gifts he received from wealthy friends. ProPublica alleges that three of Novelly’s former yacht workers said they remember Thomas coming aboard Novelly’s yachts “multiple times.”

“Our reporting on Justice Thomas’ trip to the Bahamas was based on multiple firsthand sources,” ProPublica editor-in-chief Stephen Engelberg said. “We asked Justice Thomas about this trip and he did not respond. We take any allegation of error seriously and our policy is to correct any inaccuracies as quickly as possible.”

In the op-ed, Paoletta said that Thomas once walked onto the Daybreak, a different yacht that Novelly co-owns, taking a tour of the engine room and spending about 30 minutes on board in total. 

“That’s the only time he has set foot on a boat owned by Mr. Novelly,” he wrote.

Paoletta also disputed other elements of ProPublica’s story, including the facts surrounding a standing invitation that Thomas was offered for an exclusive, members-only golf club as well as the value of a seat at a football game, which Thomas attended with business executive David Sokol. 

In a Twitter thread, Paoletta discussed the two instances, writing, “[ProPublica] smears Thomas on attending Nebraska football game and claims he was required to report ticket as gift. It’s price of ticket in suite that’s relevant for reporting & ProPublica left that out. It was $65 for that ticket, well below $415 reporting threshold.”

He then turns to the discussion of the golf club, saying that ProPublica “makes much of Wayne Huizenga golf course & how he offered Thomas lifetime membership. They left out Thomas turned it down. He doesn’t even golf. His entire connection is having lunch at club once a year for 5 years w/ his friend Huizenga and Thomas in-laws.”

3/ @ProPublica makes much of Wayne Huizenga golf course & how he offered Thomas lifetime membership. They left out Thomas turned it down. He doesn’t even golf. His entire connection is having lunch at club once a year for 5 years w/ his friend Huizenga and Thomas in-laws. — Mark Paoletta (@MarkPaoletta) August 19, 2023

ProPublica notes in its article that it “has not identified any legal cases that Huizenga, Sokol or Novelly had at the Supreme Court during their documented relationships with Thomas, although they all work in industries significantly impacted by the court’s decisions.”

It is worth noting that an article from the Daily Caller, which reviewed ProPublica’s tax documents in June, revealed that the outlet’s biggest donors, such as the Sandler Foundation, which launched the outlet, also fund several groups calling for Thomas to be investigated or resign.

A majority of experts cited by ProPublica in its stories on Supreme Court justices, many of whom alleged the justices were responsible for ethics violations, have histories of donating to Democratic campaigns and left-wing causes, according to Federal Election Commission records.

“ProPublica is leftwing billionaire funded attack dog website that is doing bidding for its donors (they won’t disclose 25% of its funding) to undermine Supreme Court now that Court is no longer acting like super legislature implementing progressive policies, like abortion,” Paoletta wrote on Twitter , saying they “only started looking at Justice’s travel after the Dobbs decision. First they attack Thomas, the only black conservative on Court and long-time opponent of Roe v. Wade. And then they attack Justice Alito, author of Dobbs. That should tell you everything.”

8/ @Propublica only started looking at Justice’s travel after the Dobbs decision. First they attack Thomas, the only black conservative on Court and long-time opponent of Roe v. Wade. And then they attack Justice Alito, author of Dobbs. That should tell you everything. — Mark Paoletta (@MarkPaoletta) August 19, 2023

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Paul A. Novelly is the Chairman of the Board and Director of Futurefuel Corporation, which is a leading US manufacturer of premium biofuels and custom and specialty organic chemicals. Novelly purchased this 23,372 sq/ft, 1+ acre waterfront home in Boca Raton's Royal Palm Yacht & Country Club in December 2008 from Dru Schmitt, who sold his St. Louis based company for $260 million in 2005. He quickly put this home that he build on the market when he moved in because it was too large.

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Justice Clarence Thomas Says ‘Unreported’ Yacht Voyage With Oil Baron Never Actually Happened

ProPublica’s latest story on Justice Clarence Thomas features “a previously unreported voyage on a yacht around the Bahamas” that the justice reportedly told a close friend never happened.

ProPublica  reported  that oil baron Paul “Tony” Novelly’s chauffeur in the Bahamas said his company once drove the justice to the marina where Novelly’s 26-foot luxury yacht, the Le Montrachet, often docks.

Mark Paoletta, a Schaerr Jaffe law firm partner and close friend of the justice,  wrote  in a Friday Wall Street Journal op-ed that Thomas told him he has never even seen the boat.

“ProPublica’s claim that Justice Thomas was a passenger on any yacht owned by Tony Novelly, including the Le Montrachet, is completely false,” Paoletta told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “He has never ever laid eyes on this boat. Moreover, Justice Thomas has never been in the Bahamas with Tony Novelly.”

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“He last visited the Bahamas in the 1980s, long before he went on the Supreme Court and long before he met Mr. Novelly,” he continued. “There is not a shred of truth to this story.”

The yacht trip is one of 38 destination vacations ProPublica  says  Thomas took in a recent article detailing gifts he received from wealthy friends. ProPublica reported that three of Novelly’s former yacht workers said they remember Thomas coming on board Novelly’s yachts “multiple times.”

“Our reporting on Justice Thomas’ trip to the Bahamas was based on multiple firsthand sources,” ProPublica editor-in-chief Stephen Engelberg told the DCNF. “We asked Justice Thomas about this trip and he did not respond. We take any allegation of error seriously and our policy is to correct any inaccuracies as quickly as possible.”

Paoletta wrote in his WSJ op-ed that Thomas once walked onto a different yacht, the Daybreak, which Novelly co-owns, spending 30 minutes on board for a tour of the engine room.

“That’s the only time he has set foot on a boat owned by Mr. Novelly,” he wrote.

Paoletta also disputed other elements of ProPublica’s story, including the facts surrounding a standing invitation Thomas was extended for an exclusive, members-only golf club and the value of a seat at a football game Thomas attended with business executive David Sokol.

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While ProPublica estimates the “annual” price of the luxury suite Thomas and Sokol occupied during a University of Nebraska football game in 2019 to be $40,000, Paoletta says the Nebraska Athletic Department confirmed the ticket price for Thomas’ seats was just $65, and notes he attended the game too. As for the golf club invitation extended by billionaire Wayne Huizenga, Thomas never accepted, according to Paoletta.

ProPublica notes in its article that it “has not identified any legal cases that Huizenga, Sokol or Novelly had at the Supreme Court during their documented relationships with Thomas, although they all work in industries significantly impacted by the court’s decisions.”

A DCNF review of tax documents in June  revealed  that ProPublica’s biggest donors, such as the Sandler Foundation, which  launched  the outlet, also fund several groups calling for Thomas to be investigated or resign.

A majority of experts cited by ProPublica in its stories on Supreme Court justices alleged ethics violations also have histories of donating to Democratic campaigns and left-wing causes, the DCNF’s review of Federal Election Commission (FEC) records found.

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Katelynn Richardson on August 20, 2023 Legal/Law/Criminal Justice and Reform , Politics -->

ProPublica’s latest story on Justice Clarence Thomas features “a previously unreported voyage on a yacht around the Bahamas” that the justice reportedly told a close friend never happened.

ProPublica reported that oil baron Paul “Tony” Novelly’s chauffeur in the Bahamas said his company once drove the justice to the marina where Novelly’s 26-foot luxury yacht, the Le Montrachet, often docks. Mark Paoletta, a Schaerr Jaffe law firm partner and close friend of the justice, wrote in a Friday Wall Street Journal op-ed that Thomas told him he has never even seen the boat.

“ProPublica’s claim that Justice Thomas was a passenger on any yacht owned by Tony Novelly, including the Le Montrachet, is completely false,” Paoletta told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “He has never ever laid eyes on this boat. Moreover, Justice Thomas has never been in the Bahamas with Tony Novelly.”

“He last visited the Bahamas in the 1980s, long before he went on the Supreme Court and long before he met Mr. Novelly,” he continued. “There is not a shred of truth to this story.”

The yacht trip is one of 38 destination vacations ProPublica says Thomas took in a recent article detailing gifts he received from wealthy friends. ProPublica reported that three of Novelly’s former yacht workers said they remember Thomas coming on board Novelly’s yachts “multiple times.”

“Our reporting on Justice Thomas’ trip to the Bahamas was based on multiple firsthand sources,” ProPublica editor-in-chief Stephen Engelberg told the DCNF. “We asked Justice Thomas about this trip and he did not respond. We take any allegation of error seriously and our policy is to correct any inaccuracies as quickly as possible.”

Paoletta wrote in his WSJ op-ed that Thomas once walked onto a different yacht, the Daybreak, which Novelly co-owns, spending 30 minutes on board for a tour of the engine room.

“That’s the only time he has set foot on a boat owned by Mr. Novelly,” he wrote.

1/My op-ed on @Propublica error-filled smear job on Justice Thomas, falsely claiming Thomas was on yacht in Bahamas with friend. Thomas never on yacht & last in Bahamas was in 1980s, long before he was on Court or met friend. @eisingerj @BrettMmurphy https://t.co/hJ7l9v4YLK — Mark Paoletta (@MarkPaoletta) August 19, 2023

Paoletta also disputed other elements of ProPublica’s story, including the facts surrounding a standing invitation Thomas was extended for an exclusive, members-only golf club and the value of a seat at a football game Thomas attended with business executive David Sokol.

While ProPublica estimates the “annual” price of the luxury suite Thomas and Sokol occupied during a University of Nebraska football game in 2019 to be $40,000, Paoletta says the Nebraska Athletic Department confirmed the ticket price for Thomas’ seats was just $65, and notes he attended the game too. As for the golf club invitation extended by billionaire Wayne Huizenga, Thomas never accepted, according to Paoletta.

ProPublica notes in its article that it “has not identified any legal cases that Huizenga, Sokol or Novelly had at the Supreme Court during their documented relationships with Thomas, although they all work in industries significantly impacted by the court’s decisions.”

A DCNF review of tax documents in June revealed that ProPublica’s biggest donors, such as the Sandler Foundation, which launched the outlet, also fund several groups calling for Thomas to be investigated or resign. A majority of experts cited by ProPublica in its stories on Supreme Court justices alleged ethics violations also have histories of donating to Democratic campaigns and left-wing causes, the DCNF’s review of Federal Election Commission (FEC) records found.

All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact  [email protected] .

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Clarence thomas says ‘unreported’ yacht voyage with oil baron seized on by liberal media… never actually happened, you appear to be using an ad blocker.

Clarence Thomas’ 38 vacations: The billionaires who treated the justice to luxury travel

The fullest accounting yet shows how thomas has secretly reaped the benefits from a network of wealthy and well-connected patrons that is far more extensive than previously understood..

This story was originally published by ProPublica .

During his three decades on the Supreme Court, Clarence Thomas has enjoyed steady access to a lifestyle most Americans can only imagine. A cadre of industry titans and ultrawealthy executives have treated him to far-flung vacations aboard their yachts, ushered him into the premium suites at sporting events and sent their private jets to fetch him — including, on more than one occasion, an entire 737. It’s a stream of luxury that is both more extensive and from a wider circle than has been previously understood.

Like clockwork, Thomas’ leisure activities have been underwritten by benefactors who share the ideology that drives his jurisprudence. Their gifts include:

At least 38 destination vacations, including a previously unreported voyage on a yacht around the Bahamas; 26 private jet flights, plus an additional eight by helicopter; a dozen VIP passes to professional and college sporting events, typically perched in the skybox; two stays at luxury resorts in Florida and Jamaica; and one standing invitation to an uber-exclusive golf club overlooking the Atlantic coast.

This accounting of Thomas’ travel, revealed for the first time here from an array of previously unavailable information, is the fullest to date of the generosity that has regularly afforded Thomas a lifestyle far beyond what his income could provide. And it is almost certainly an undercount.

While some of the hospitality, such as stays in personal homes, may not have required disclosure, Thomas appears to have violated the law by failing to disclose flights, yacht cruises and expensive sports tickets, according to ethics experts.

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Perhaps even more significant, the pattern exposes consistent violations of judicial norms, experts, including seven current and former federal judges appointed by both parties, told ProPublica. “In my career I don’t remember ever seeing this degree of largesse given to anybody,” said Jeremy Fogel, a former federal judge who served for years on the judicial committee that reviews judges’ financial disclosures. “I think it’s unprecedented.”

This year, ProPublica revealed Texas real estate billionaire  Harlan Crow’s generosity toward Thomas , including vacations, private jet flights, gifts, the purchase of his  mother’s house  in Georgia and  tuition  payments. In an April  statement , the justice defended his relationship with Crow. The Crows “are among our dearest friends,” Thomas said. “As friends do, we have joined them on a number of family trips.”

The New York Times recently  surfaced VIP treatment  from wealthy businessmen he met through the Horatio Alger Association, an exclusive nonprofit. Among them were David Sokol, a former top executive at Berkshire Hathaway, and the late H. Wayne Huizenga, a billionaire who turned Blockbuster and Waste Management into national goliaths. (The Times noted Thomas gives access to the Supreme Court building for Horatio Alger events; ProPublica confirmed that the access has cost $1,500 or more in donations per person.)

Records and interviews show Thomas had another benefactor, oil baron Paul “Tony” Novelly, whose gifts to the justice have not previously been reported. ProPublica’s totals in this article include trips from Crow.

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Each of these men — Novelly, Huizenga, Sokol and Crow — appears to have first met Thomas after he ascended to the Supreme Court. With the exception of Crow, their names are nowhere in Thomas’ financial disclosures, where justices are required by law to publicly report most gifts.

The total value of the undisclosed trips they’ve given Thomas since 1991, the year he was appointed to the Supreme Court, is difficult to measure. But it’s likely in the millions.

Huizenga, a Fort Lauderdale resident who passed away in 2018, sent his personal 737 to pick Thomas up and bring him to South Florida at least twice, according to John Wener, a former flight attendant and chef on board the plane. If he were picked up in D.C., the five-hour round trip would have cost at least $130,000 each time had Thomas chartered the jet himself, according to estimates from jet charter companies.

In February 2016, Thomas flew on Crow’s private jet from Washington to New Haven, Connecticut, before heading back on the jet just three hours later. ProPublica previously reported the flight, but newly obtained U.S. Marshals Service records reveal its purpose: Thomas met with several Yale Law School deans for a tour of the room where they planned to display a portrait of the justice. (Crow’s foundation also gave the school $105,000, earmarked for the “Justice Thomas Portrait Fund,” tax filings show.)

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Don Fox, the former general counsel of the U.S. Office of Government Ethics and the senior ethics official in the executive branch, said, “It’s just the height of hypocrisy to wear the robes and live the lifestyle of a billionaire.” Taxpayers, he added, have the right to expect that Supreme Court justices are not living on the dime of others.

Fox, who worked under both Democrat and Republican administrations, said he advised every new political appointee the same thing: Your wealthy friends are the ones you had before you were appointed. “You don’t get to acquire any new ones,” he told them.

Thomas and Novelly did not respond to a detailed list of questions for this story. Huizenga ' s son, who is the president of the family’s holding company, also did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

In a  statement  to ProPublica, Sokol said he’s been close friends with the Thomases for 21 years and acknowledged traveling with and occasionally hosting them. He defended the justice as upright and ethical. “We have never once discussed any pending court matter,” Sokol said. “Our conversations have always revolved around helping young people, sports, and family matters.”

“As to the use of private aviation,” he added, “I believe that given security concerns all of the Supreme Court justices should either fly privately or on governmental aircraft.”

The justices  have said  they follow court rules prohibiting them from accepting gifts from a group of people so frequently that “a reasonable person would believe that the public office is being used for private gain.” But what actually constitutes a gift under those rules is ambiguous and, in practice, justices have few restrictions on what they can accept. Other members of the court have accepted travel underwritten by wealthy businessmen and speaking invitations at universities. Stephen Breyer accepted a flight to a Nantucket wedding from a Democratic megadonor. Ruth Bader Ginsburg took a tour of Israel and Jordan paid for by an Israeli billionaire. Those gifts are public because Breyer and Ginsburg disclosed them.

Thomas, however, is apparently an extreme outlier for the volume and frequency of all the undisclosed vacations he’s received. He once complained that he sacrificed wealth to sit on the court, though he depicted the choice as a matter of conscience. “The job is not worth doing for what they pay,”  he told  the bar association in Savannah, Georgia, in 2001, “but it is worth doing for the principle.”

To track Thomas’ relationships and travel, ProPublica examined flight data, emails from airport and university officials, security detail records, tax court filings, meeting minutes and a trove of photographs from personal albums, including cards that Thomas’ wife, Ginni, sent to friends. In addition, reporters interviewed more than 100 eyewitnesses and other sources: jet and helicopter pilots, flight attendants, airport workers, yacht crew members, security guards, photographers, waitresses, caterers, chefs, drivers, river rafting guides and C-suite executives.

ProPublica has not identified any legal cases that Huizenga, Sokol or Novelly had at the Supreme Court during their documented relationships with Thomas, although they all work in industries significantly impacted by the court’s decisions.

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In a small-circulation biography given to Huizenga’s friends and family, Thomas acknowledged that he and Huizenga discussed some of the billionaire’s companies but said their relationship was never transactional. “It wasn’t that kind of friendship,” he told the interviewer. The justice said they’d prefer to go to a small restaurant in a strip mall or sit on the billionaire’s lawn and drink tea or diet soda.

“We are in a society where everything is quid pro quo,” Thomas said, but not with the Huizengas. “I don’t do anything for them and they can’t do anything for me.”

“Four lucky couples”

On Labor Day weekend 2019, Thomas boarded a private plane in Washington, D.C., for the first leg of a sojourn out West. The vacation had been months in the making and, thanks to Sokol, it was all taken care of. He’s hosted the Thomases virtually every summer for a decade.

The first stop was the Great Plains. It was the home opener at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, which Ginni Thomas had attended before transferring. The Thomases were joined there by other couples, including one of the justice’s most vocal advocates, Mark Paoletta, who then worked for the federal government, and his wife.

Sokol, a major university donor who graduated from the Omaha campus, arranged for the group to attend the football and volleyball games with all-access passes. Clarence Thomas met with the football team the day before the game. The group walked out of the tunnel before kickoff. During halftime, they stood on the sidelines to watch the marching band perform, at one point posing for a picture in the end zone: “The Sokols took four lucky couples to the first Nebraska footbal SIC? game of the season,” Ginni Thomas wrote in one of the card captions.

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Sokol runs a private equity firm and now also chairs a holding company that owns large international shipping and power utility corporations. He resigned from Berkshire Hathaway in 2011 amid an internal investigation by the company that found he had violated its insider trading policy. (At the time, Sokol  denied wrongdoing  and said his resignation was unrelated to the episode; he was never indicted.)

That Saturday, the group watched both the football and volleyball games from luxury suites. The football skybox, which typically costs $40,000 annually, belonged to Tom Osborne, a former Republican congressman who was also the head coach of the team for 25 years. Hosting the Thomases had ripple effects. A local priest requested a ticket for his 87-year-old mother, but the volleyball coach had to tell him none was available. “All of our tickets have been taken for Clarence Thomas and his group,” the coach wrote.

The Thomases have been treated to at least seven University of Nebraska-Lincoln games — five arranged by Sokol — in recent years. The Times first reported on Thomas’ appearances at some of them.

Thomas has never reported any of those tickets on his yearly financial forms. Judiciary disclosure rules require that most gifts worth more than $415 be disclosed. “It’s so obvious,” said Richard Painter, former chief White House ethics lawyer for President George W. Bush. “It all has to be reported.” ProPublica identified more than 60 federal judges who disclosed tickets to sporting events between 2003 and 2019. In 1999, Thomas disclosed private flight and accommodations for the Daytona 500 but hasn’t reported any other sporting events before or since.

In a statement, Osborne confirmed Thomas has “watched a couple of football games” in his suite, which the university had given to him. He said he is “taxed” for the use of the suite but did not answer whether Thomas has ever reimbursed him. The University of Nebraska-Lincoln did not respond to requests for comment.

On Sunday, the morning after the football game in Nebraska, Sokol flew with Thomas by private jet to Sokol’s Paintbrush Ranch just outside Jackson Hole, Wyoming. The property, valued in the low eight figures, sits in the foothills of Shadow Mountain. A  local radio  personality said of the estate: “This is the ultimate home and it has the most iconic view of the Tetons I’ve seen. Ever.”

Sokol also owns a waterfront mansion in Fort Lauderdale , currently worth $20.1 million, where he’s hosted the Thomases as well, according to photos of the visits. The 12,800-square-foot property includes a home theater, elevator, walk-in wine cellar and yacht docking. (In addition, Sokol and Thomas have shared an opulent lodge together while vacationing at Crow’s private lakeside resort, Camp Topridge, in the Adirondacks.)

In Wyoming, the Thomases fished, rafted on the Snake River and sat by a campfire overlooking the Teton Range with the other couples. At one point, the Paolettas serenaded the justice with a song they wrote about him.

Like Thomas, Paoletta did not disclose the trip on his yearly  financial filings . At the time, Paoletta was general counsel and the designated ethics official at the  Office of Management and Budget . In a statement, Paoletta said he wasn’t required to disclose the trip because he had reimbursed Sokol, but he did not say how much or provide documentation of those payments. “I complied with all ethics laws and regulations,” Paoletta said.

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Details of the vacation to Nebraska and Wyoming were drawn from photographs, trip planning emails and social media posts, as well as interviews with airport workers, local residents and others familiar with the travel, including river raft guides.

Since 1990, Sokol and his wife have donated more than $1 million to Republican politicians and groups, along with smaller amounts to Democrats. Last October, in New Orleans, Sokol made a direct reference to a pending Supreme Court case while addressing a group of former Horatio Alger scholarship recipients. (Thomas was not in attendance.)

The speech veered into territory that made many of those in attendance uncomfortable and left others appalled, emails and others messages show. Sokol, who has written extensively about American exceptionalism and the virtues of free enterprise, minimized slavery and systemic racism, some felt. He then criticized President Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan, arguing Biden had overstepped the government’s authority, according to a recording of the speech obtained by ProPublica.

“It’s going to get overturned by the Supreme Court,” Sokol predicted, echoing a common legal commentary.

He was right. This summer, the court struck down Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan. Thomas voted in the majority.

Deep sea fishing in the Caribbean

Nearly every spring, Novelly, a billionaire who made his fortune storing and transporting petroleum, takes his two yachts on a fishing expedition to the Bahamas’ Exuma Islands. Photographs from the trips show porcelain beaches, cerulean waters and fresh mahi-mahi. Friends and family come and go for days at a time.

Three of Novelly’s former yacht workers, including a captain, told ProPublica they recall Thomas coming on board the vessels multiple times in recent years. Novelly’s local chauffeur in the Bahamas said his company once picked Thomas up from the billionaire’s private jet and drove him to the marina where one of the yachts, Le Montrachet, frequently docks.

Le Montrachet, named after the premium French wine, is a 126-foot luxury vessel complete with a full bar, multiple dining areas, a baby grand piano, accommodations for 10 guests and a handful of smaller fishing boats and jet skis.  Novelly charges about $60,000 a week  to outsiders who want to charter it.

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Another past guest on Novelly’s yacht is “Alligator” Ron Bergeron, one of the biggest land and roadway developers in Florida. Around 2018, Novelly and Thomas went to Bergeron’s private ranch on the edge of the Everglades — a sprawling, gated estate with centuries-old cypress trees and an 1800s-style saloon on site. He described Novelly as a man who likes to share his success with others. “He’s very generous with all his friends,” Bergeron told ProPublica.

Bergeron said his conversations with Thomas at the ranch were strictly about charity work and not business. “You’re talking about a great man,” Bergeron said, “who gives his time to make a difference for America.”

Since 1999, Novelly’s family and companies have publicly disclosed at least $500,000 to conservative causes and Republican candidates in federal elections. (Before then, he had given to both parties.)

Novelly, who recently stepped down from his CEO roles, ran his business affairs aggressively, ending up on the wrong side of the government in at least two cases. He spends much of his time between St. Louis and Boca Raton , where he has a 23,000 square-foot palatial estate appraised at $22.2 million. In 2002, Novelly established residency and a holding company in the Virgin Islands. During a hearing with local officials, Novelly described the arrangement there as a “quid pro quo,” meaning the U.S. territory received a boost to the local economy in return for offering substantial tax breaks. The IRS would later call it an “abusive tax avoidance scheme” and pursued Novelly for millions in back taxes and penalties. Novelly denied the characterization and eventually settled with the government for a negotiated amount.

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There’s no evidence his friendship with Thomas helped Novelly in one of his most significant disputes. In 2005, the  Justice Department sued Novelly’s company , Apex Oil, because its corporate predecessor had contributed to a massive groundwater contamination beneath an Illinois village and then Apex refused to help with the cleanup. Apex argued the spill had occurred before the company went through a bankruptcy years earlier. Several judges ruled against Apex, which eventually appealed to the Supreme Court in 2010. The justices declined to hear the case, and the company had to pay about $150 million to help remove oil from the soil.

It’s not clear how Thomas voted in the case because such votes are not typically public. The vacations ProPublica identified appear to have occurred after the case was resolved.

In 2020, Apex Oil, Sokol and Crow helped fund a documentary defending Thomas as a response to an HBO film that was critical of the justice.  Sokol called the HBO movie  a “Molotov cocktail into our homes” and a prime example of America’s eroding civility.

The “most coveted” invitation in the world

Thomas’ first billionaire benefactor is likely H. Wayne Huizenga, believed to be the only person in American history to build three separate Fortune 500 companies. One of the three was AutoNation, which Huizenga founded in 1996 before building it into the largest car dealer in the country. Between 1998 and 1999, Huizenga’s holding company spent $500,000 lobbying federal agencies that regulate the automotive industry, according to OpenSecrets data. Over the years, the Huizenga family and companies gave millions to state and federal Republican candidates and once threw a fundraiser for the Florida GOP that helped keep the party afloat for months.

The billionaire was known to regularly lavish gifts and perks on those in his orbit. He routinely took friends on opulent vacations. He paid his employees handsomely and sometimes covered their bills and personal expenses. On a whim, Huizenga once handed box tickets for the opera, which were worth thousands, to his caterer, Bob Leonardi.

“I led the life of a multimillionaire without being one,” Leonardi said.

For 20 years, Thomas benefited from Huizenga’s attention as well, availing himself of the billionaire’s fleet of aircraft and other luxuries. Huizenga took Thomas to see the Miami Dolphins and Florida Panthers several times between the mid-’90s and mid-2000s, according to interviews and photographs. Huizenga owned both teams at the time.

Executives saw Thomas around Huizenga’s office often. Richard Rochon, the former president of Huizenga Holdings, said Thomas once shadowed the billionaire during meetings. “He just wants to see what I do every day,” Rochon recalled Huizenga saying.

On at least two occasions, Thomas attended Huizenga’s birthday and Christmas parties, which the billionaire held inside his private hangar at the Fort Lauderdale airport. Van Poole, a lobbyist and former chairman of the Florida GOP, recalled riding down the elevator at the nearby Hyatt Pier 66 hotel — which Huizenga also controlled — when the Thomases stepped in with a security detail. The group discussed college sports and then traveled to the party together, Poole said.

Thomas occasionally flew on Huizenga’s helicopters, sometimes taking off from the roof of the corporate headquarters, and at least one of his Gulfstream jets around Florida, according to his former pilots. But the billionaire’s most luxurious planes were a pair of 737 jets he had retrofitted like a lounge, complete with recliners, love seats, mahogany dining and card tables and gourmet food.

At least two times in the mid 2000s, Huizenga sent one of them to pick up Thomas and deliver him to Fort Lauderdale, said John Wener, the flight attendant on board.

Wener recalled chatting with the justice about his nomination to the Supreme Court and the tumultuous Senate confirmation hearings after Thomas’ former aide, Anita Hill, accused him of sexual harassment. “He said, ‘Just imagine a job interview and you’re in front of 100 people that hate you,’” Wener recalled Thomas remarking. “‘How would that interview go?’”

In the early 2000s, Huizenga gave Thomas something that was priceless at the time: a standing invitation to his exclusive, members-only golf club, the Floridian. Designed by golf legend Gary Player, the course was lined with cottages for Huizenga’s friends, a yacht marina for them to dock and a helipad if they wanted to fly in. One family friend told the Huizenga family biographer that the Floridian was “the most coveted private golf invitation in the world.” Those who worked and played there said the membership rolls were a Rolodex of the rich, famous and powerful: From Michael Douglas and Rush Limbaugh to Michael Bloomberg and former Vice President Dan Quayle. Donald Trump once asked to be a member but Huizenga spurned him, according to three of Huizenga’s former employees.

All 200-plus members were “honorary” and didn’t pay dues — Huizenga covered everything. “It was a little slice of heaven, a magical place,” former media personality Matt Lauer told the biographer. “You drove through the gates and it was this fairytale land that he had created.”

It’s unclear if Thomas was a member or Huizenga’s frequent guest with similar privileges. The billionaire’s former personal photographer and two former golf pros at the club recalled seeing Thomas there multiple times over the years. One of Huizenga’s helicopter pilots said he had picked the justice up from the property. And a fifth employee, a former waitress and concierge, said she once served Thomas and Huizenga, who were wearing golf attire, as they dined alone in the enormous waterfront clubhouse for lunch. “Have you met a Supreme Court justice?” Huizenga asked the waitress before she took their order. “This is Clarence Thomas.”

Today, the Floridian, which the Huizenga family sold in 2010 before it underwent renovations,  has a $150,000 initiation fee .

Paying for access to the Supreme Court chambers

Thomas first met Huizenga at a formal gala in Washington, D.C., in 1992, when they were both inducted into the Horatio Alger Association. Henry Kissinger and Maya Angelou were among the other honorees that year. The organization, named after the 19th-century novelist who popularized rags-to-riches folklore, gives millions in college scholarships each year and also brings together some of the country’s wealthiest, self-made business tycoons for opulent events. (In real life, Alger was a minister on Cape Cod who resigned from his parish after he was credibly accused of molesting boys.)

“We were proud to honor Justice Thomas more than 30 years ago,” an association spokesperson said in a statement, “and remain grateful for his continued involvement in our organization.” She said Thomas spends countless hours mentoring scholarship recipients.

Thomas appears to have met Huizenga, Sokol, Novelly and Bergeron through the organization. Several of Thomas’ trips to Florida in the 2000s appear to have been connected with the association. In that time period, he joined Huizenga at Horatio Alger scholarship ceremonies in South Florida, travel that the  justice disclosed  in several of his yearly financial filings.

However, he never identified Huizenga in any of his disclosures. The association spokesperson confirmed to ProPublica that the billionaire hosted those events “and covered all costs involved.”

Experts said that means Thomas’ disclosures would be, at a minimum, incomplete and misleading because the rules require federal judges to identify the source of the gifts they receive. “Source means the person or entity that paid for it,” said Kathleen Clark, a legal ethics authority at Washington University in St. Louis.

Belonging to the association has had its privileges. As part of a board meeting, the Thomases once went on a lavish trip to Jamaica, where they were hosted by a wealthy donor who owned a luxury hotel atop a former sugar plantation. Johnny Cash performed. Horatio Alger Association membership itself is worth at least $200,000, according to the organization’s meeting minutes in 2007, a sum that those who nominate a new member are responsible for raising in that person’s honor. The association spokesperson said there was no requirement to raise money for new members back when Thomas was inducted.

Thomas has likely helped the group earn many times that figure since then. Every year, the justice hosts an event for members inside the Supreme Court’s Great Hall. The Times previously reported that the event afforded the Horatio Alger Association unusual access to the court.

ProPublica examined boxes of the association’s historical archives, including financial records that show the group has required donations of at least $1,500 — $7,500 for nonmembers — to attend the Supreme Court event. In 2004, those who donated $100,000 for a table at the main ceremony got 10 seats inside the Supreme Court. In the judiciary’s code of conduct — which is general guidance that does not apply to Supreme Court justices, though  they say  they consult it — there is explicit language advising federal judges against using their position to fundraise for outside organizations.

But that’s what Thomas has done, said Virginia Canter, a former government ethics lawyer who served in administrations of both parties and reviewed the association’s financial records at ProPublica’s request.

“To use the Supreme Court to fundraise for somebody’s charity is, to me, an abuse of office,” she said. Canter acknowledged the organization may do good work, but that’s besides the point, she said, because wealthy donors aren’t supposed to be able to pay thousands of dollars to visit a justice inside the courthouse walls.

“It’s pay to play,” Canter added, “isn’t it?”

Do you have any tips on the Supreme Court? Brett Murphy can be reached by email at  [email protected]  and by Signal or WhatsApp at 508-523-5195. Justin Elliott can be reached by email at  [email protected]  or by Signal or WhatsApp at 774-826-6240. Josh Kaplan can be reached by email at  [email protected]  and by Signal or WhatsApp at 734-834-9383.

Josh Kaplan  and  Justin Elliott  contributed reporting.

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Clarence Thomas reportedly failed to report "flights, yacht cruises, and expensive sports tickets" given by wealthy friends

Thomas traveled to at least 38 vacation spots paid for by friends, novelly reportedly took thomas on fishing vacations to the bahamas.

Justice Clarence Thomas allegedly broke US law by failing to disclose “flights, yacht cruises, and expensive sports tickets” given by wealthy friends behind at least 38 destination vacations, ethics experts told ProPublica in its most recent ground-breaking investigation into the conservative judge and his friends.

Thomas traveled to at least 38 vacation spots paid for by friends he made while serving on the court, according to the news organization, which names oil tycoon Paul “Tony” Novelly as a benefactor whose gifts to him haven’t before been documented. According to the article, Novelly took Thomas on fishing vacations to the Bahamas.

Also Read: From yacht trip around the Bahamas to stay at luxury resort in Jamaica: Justice Clarence Thomas accepted trips worth millions since 1991: Report

The report was only the most recent in a long line of exposés revealing connections between 75-year-old Thomas and wealthy donors, many of whom gave to conservative causes, prominently featuring real estate mogul Harlan Crow.

Also Read: Who is David Sokol, ex-top executive at Berkshire Hathaway?

Businessman Paul Anthony Novelly created FutureFuel Corp. and has held leadership positions in 13 different organizations. He currently serves as the chairman of Western Metals Corp., the chairman of FutureFuel Corp., the chairman and chief executive officer of World Point Holdings, Inc., the chairman and chief executive officer of Apex Oil, Inc., the president, chief executive officer, and director of AIC Ltd. (Bermuda), and the chairman of Apex Oil Co., Inc. Novelly is also President & Chief Executive Officer of The Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans.

Also Read: Who is Tom Osborne, former Republican congressman?

Novelly has held various executive positions in the past, including chairman, president, and CEO of WPT GP LLC, chief executive of St. Albans Global Management LLC, CEO of Apex Holding Co., chairman, president, and CEO of World Point Terminals, Inc., and president and CEO of FutureFuel Chemical Co. Novelly graduated with a bachelor’s degree from Saint Louis University.

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Clarence Thomas says ‘unreported’ yacht voyage with oil baron seized on by liberal media… never actually happened

ProPublica’s latest story on Justice Clarence Thomas features “a previously unreported voyage on a yacht around the Bahamas” that the justice reportedly told a close friend never happened.

ProPublica reported that oil baron Paul “Tony” Novelly’s chauffeur in the Bahamas said his company once drove the justice to the marina where Novelly’s 26-foot luxury yacht, the Le Montrachet, often docks. Mark Paoletta, a Schaerr Jaffe law firm partner and close friend of the justice, wrote in a Friday Wall Street Journal op-ed that Thomas told him he has never even seen the boat.

“ProPublica’s claim that Justice Thomas was a passenger on any yacht owned by Tony Novelly, including the Le Montrachet, is completely false,” Paoletta told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “He has never ever laid eyes on this boat. Moreover, Justice Thomas has never been in the Bahamas with Tony Novelly.”

“He last visited the Bahamas in the 1980s, long before he went on the Supreme Court and long before he met Mr. Novelly,” he continued. “There is not a shred of truth to this story.”

The yacht trip is one of 38 destination vacations ProPublica says Thomas took in a recent article detailing gifts he received from wealthy friends. ProPublica reported that three of Novelly’s former yacht workers said they remember Thomas coming on board Novelly’s yachts “multiple times.”

“Our reporting on Justice Thomas’ trip to the Bahamas was based on multiple firsthand sources,” ProPublica editor-in-chief Stephen Engelberg told the DCNF. “We asked Justice Thomas about this trip and he did not respond. We take any allegation of error seriously and our policy is to correct any inaccuracies as quickly as possible.”

Paoletta wrote in his WSJ op-ed that Thomas once walked onto a different yacht, the Daybreak, which Novelly co-owns, spending 30 minutes on board for a tour of the engine room.

“That’s the only time he has set foot on a boat owned by Mr. Novelly,” he wrote.

1/My op-ed on @Propublica error-filled smear job on Justice Thomas, falsely claiming Thomas was on yacht in Bahamas with friend. Thomas never on yacht & last in Bahamas was in 1980s, long before he was on Court or met friend. @eisingerj @BrettMmurphy https://t.co/hJ7l9v4YLK — Mark Paoletta (@MarkPaoletta) August 19, 2023

Paoletta also disputed other elements of ProPublica’s story, including the facts surrounding a standing invitation Thomas was extended for an exclusive, members-only golf club and the value of a seat at a football game Thomas attended with business executive David Sokol.

While ProPublica estimates the “annual” price of the luxury suite Thomas and Sokol occupied during a University of Nebraska football game in 2019 to be $40,000, Paoletta says the Nebraska Athletic Department confirmed the ticket price for Thomas’ seats was just $65, and notes he attended the game too. As for the golf club invitation extended by billionaire Wayne Huizenga, Thomas never accepted, according to Paoletta.

ProPublica notes in its article that it “has not identified any legal cases that Huizenga, Sokol or Novelly had at the Supreme Court during their documented relationships with Thomas, although they all work in industries significantly impacted by the court’s decisions.”

A DCNF review of tax documents in June revealed that ProPublica’s biggest donors, such as the Sandler Foundation, which launched the outlet, also fund several groups calling for Thomas to be investigated or resign. A majority of experts cited by ProPublica in its stories on Supreme Court justices alleged ethics violations also have histories of donating to Democratic campaigns and left-wing causes, the DCNF’s review of Federal Election Commission (FEC) records found.

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Latah County Commissioner District 1 Candidate Tony Johnson

by Devin Trubey

LATAH COUNTY, ID-Tony Johnson is a fourth generation Latah County resident and currently lives in Viola.

He owns his own business Johnson Trucking and Excavation.

An area where he plans to make changes is economic growth.

“A lot of rules and regulations are in place which seems to slow the process down."

He believes easing the regulations will make the process more user friendly.

Johnson served on Moscow city council for 1994 until 2000.

He also sits on the county planning commission and curbing crime is one of his priorities

In Latah County crime is up seventeen percent since 2017.

“I’d love to see Latah County get a drug dog a lot of those crimes have been drug related and a drug I think would be a tremendous asset.”

Johnson is also a supporter of Proposition 2 the Medicaid expansion initiative.

If passed could bring around half a million dollars back to the county. He’s already envisioning ways to spend it.

‘We’d have a little wiggle room with that money and still not increase the budget so there is some working room there to possibly fund the drug dog.”