Skip to content
ProPublica Donate
ProPublica Donate
Photo of Alex Mierjeski

Alex Mierjeski

Alex is a research reporter at ProPublica.

Need to Get in Touch?

Alex is a research reporter at ProPublica.

Friends of the Court

Senators Ask Billionaire Paul Singer and Power Broker Leonard Leo for Full Accounting of Gifts to Supreme Court Justices

The letters cite ProPublica’s reporting on an undisclosed private jet flight and Alaska fishing vacation provided to Justice Samuel Alito.

Friends of the Court

Alito Took Unreported Luxury Trip With GOP Donor Paul Singer

In the years after the undisclosed trip to Alaska, Republican megadonor Paul Singer’s hedge fund has repeatedly had business before the Supreme Court. Alito has never recused himself.

Friends of the Court

Clarence Thomas Friend Acknowledges Harlan Crow Paid Child’s Tuition

In response to ProPublica reporting, the friend said Crow covered two years of schooling for the teen, which would amount to roughly $100,000 of undisclosed gifts.

Friends of the Court

Clarence Thomas Had a Child in Private School. Harlan Crow Paid the Tuition.

Crow paid for private school for a relative Thomas said he was raising “as a son.” “This is way outside the norm,” said a former White House ethics lawyer.

How Bankruptcy Helps the Coal Industry Avoid Environmental Liability

Jeff Hoops built Blackjewel into the nation’s sixth largest coal company by acquiring bankrupt mines. When it declared bankruptcy, he pivoted to other ventures, leaving polluted streams and mud-shrouded roads in his wake.

Local Reporting Network

Friends of the Court

Billionaire Harlan Crow Bought Property From Clarence Thomas. The Justice Didn’t Disclose the Deal.

The transaction is the first known instance of money flowing from Crow to the Supreme Court justice. The sale netted the GOP megadonor two vacant lots and the house where Thomas’ mother was living.

Friends of the Court

Congress Members Announce Hearing, Demand Chief Justice Investigate Clarence Thomas’ Trips

The lawmakers said the chief justice was duty-bound to conduct a “swift, thorough, independent and transparent investigation” of Thomas’ undisclosed travel with billionaire Harlan Crow in order to “safeguard public faith in the judiciary.”

Friends of the Court

Clarence Thomas Defends Undisclosed “Family Trips” With GOP Megadonor. Here Are the Facts.

In response to a ProPublica report, Thomas explained why he did not disclose lavish travel provided by billionaire Harlan Crow. But legal experts maintain the justice was required to make these disclosures.

Friends of the Court

Lawmakers Call for Investigation and Ethics Reforms in Response to ProPublica Report on Clarence Thomas

Influential Democratic legislators are pushing for changes at the Supreme Court and a probe into Thomas’ undisclosed luxury trips provided by powerful conservative donor Harlan Crow.

Friends of the Court

Clarence Thomas and the Billionaire

Island-hopping on a superyacht. Private jet rides around the world. The undisclosed gifts to Thomas have no known precedent in the modern history of the Supreme Court. “It’s incomprehensible to me that someone would do this,” says one former judge.