New Analysis Shows Crows’ Election Giving Increased Ninefold After Citizens United Ruling

By Zachary Tashman

ProPublica recently revealed that Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas was provided lavish—and until now undisclosed—travel over the past 20 years by wealthy Texas businessman Harlan Crow. Crow also bought property from the Justice in a transaction Thomas failed to report. 

In an attempt to identify what exactly Crow got for all this largesse, Americans for Tax Fairness (ATF) compiled Crow family political contributions going back to 1977. They show that donations from the Crow clan—always big political givers—shot up almost nine-fold after the Court’s controversial Citizens United decision in 2010 that gutted campaign finance law. Thomas was a deciding vote for the 5-4 ruling that dramatically boosted his friend’s influence over the political system. 

So how exactly does Harlan Crow benefit from his over 25-year friendship with Justice Thomas, which presumably began after Thomas was elevated to the Supreme Court? Citizens United allowed for the rise of “Super-PACs” that can raise and spend unlimited amounts of campaign cash to influence the outcome of American elections. Members of the Crow family, whose cumulative fortune is estimated to be $2.5 billion according to Forbes, immediately exploited those new looser rules to inject more of their money into the political system. 

ATF’s compilation of Federal Election Commission records on Crow family political contributions going back 35 years found that their average yearly donations went up by 862% after their good friend Justice Thomas helped destroy campaign-finance limitations. Between 1977 and 2009, the year before the Citizens United ruling, the Crow family (defined as Harlan, his wife, parents, siblings, and their family-owned businesses) spent on average roughly $163,000 each year on elections. The number rose to $1,571,000 on average annually from 2010 through 2022. Put another way: over the past 46 years, the Crow family has spent $25.8 million to influence the outcome of federal elections—but nearly 80% of that amount was spent after the Citizens United ruling opened the floodgates to unlimited political spending.

The three biggest recipients of Crow cash are the conservative super PACs American Crossroads ($2.75 million), Congressional Leadership Fund ($2.13 million) and the Republican National Committee (1.75 million). In addition to the Crow family spending on federal elections, Open Secrets found that Harlan Crow and his wife Kathy have spent $4.7 million on state candidates and committees since 1996. The three biggest recipients of Crow cash are American Crossroads ($2.75 million), Congressional Leadership Fund ($2.13 million) and the Republican National Committee (1.75 million) 

CROW FAMILY POLITICAL CONTRIBUTIONS BY ELECTION CYCLE

Source: Americans for Tax Fairness Analysis of FEC data (tab 2), extracted April 12, 2023 

But this only accounts for the political contributions we know about. If Harlan Crow and his family share a similar preference for non-disclosure with their “close friend” Justice Thomas, they could be funneling even more money into “dark money” 501(c)(4)s groups, politically active organizations that are not required to disclose their donors. Based on his leadership positions, inclinations, and resources, it’s reasonable to assume that Crow may have also given millions of dollars to conservative groups not directly involved in electoral politics that still influence policy-making such as the Federalist Society, American Enterprise Institute, and Hoover Institution. 

This is just another example in a long line of billionaire influence peddling up and down our political system, Americans for Tax Fairness reported last year that fewer than 700 Billionaires spent a record $881 million to sway the midterm elections. These revelations make clear that even the judicial branch is not immune from corrosive influence of billionaire wealth. If America is going to have a legal system that works for all citizens, not just the wealthy few, this profligate corruption must be ended once and for all. Crow’s courting of a Supreme Court justice is another example of billionaire influence-buying throughout our political system. Americans for Tax Fairness reported last year that fewer than 700 Billionaires had already spent a record $881 million to sway the midterm elections with a crucial week still left in the campaign. These latest revelations make clear that even the judicial branch is not immune from the corrosive influence of billionaire wealth. If America is going to have a government and legal system that works for all citizens, not just the wealthy few, we need stricter ethics rules, campaign-finance laws with teeth, and higher taxes on billionaires so they have fewer resources with which to distort our democracy.