Crane your neck and get another good look into Harlan Crow’s Highland Park backyard, because this might be the last glance.
Crow’s preference for keeping a low profile blew up after ProPublica broke the story about his unreported gifts to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.
The billionaire real estate scion and former Crow Holdings CEO opened up about his bizarre collections and his relationship with Thomas — for the last time, he hopes — in an interview with the Atlantic.
Crow’s Dallas mansion holds his collection of Nazi memorabilia, war artifacts, items that belonged to or paid homage to political leaders like Ronald Reagan, Fidel Castro and Vladimir Lenin, and signatures from nearly every Supreme Court justice in American history.
Crow defended his collection, saying it’s a generational thing. Born in 1949, he grew up in an era when the aftermath of World War II was still fresh. He lived through the Cold War, when the perceived threat of communism was at its peak. His collections are meant to be memorials.
“In my lifetime, and your parents’ lifetime … we didn’t have the Battle of the Bulge or the storming of the beaches of Normandy,” he told the outlet. “I want us to remember it. I want us to learn from it. And it’s pretty damn important that we remember it.”
Propublica’s investigations detailed the luxury vacations Thomas took on Crow’s private jet and megayacht, allegedly violating a law that requires justices to report gifts of $415 or higher. Since then, more details have emerged.
Crow bought Thomas’ mother’s house for $133,363 in 2014, paid private tuition for Thomas’ grandnephew and had business ties to a Supreme Court case in 2004 in which Thomas served.
Crow has said his gifts to Thomas were no different from how he treats other close friends.
“Crow is like most people, in that he feels he has acted with the purest and most honorable intentions,” the outlet reported. “He is unlike many, though, in thinking that the world should take his word for it — and that if it does not, that’s the world’s fault, and not his.”
How has Crow used his money and power to influence political decisions over the years? He’s donated millions to the Republican party and identifies as a “center right.” Yet, Crow and Thomas rarely talk about politics, he said.
Crow expressed his loathing of former President Donald J. Trump, but said doesn’t know much about politics. Crow said he never tried to sway Thomas, and he referred to the justice as “a person of the highest character.”
Crow described himself as a “real estate guy” who’s extremely wealthy and likes to extend his hospitality to his friends, including Thomas.
“I’ve been successful. I have lived a comfortable life. I have a really big house,” he told the outlet. “That’s the life I’ve lived. I don’t think there’s anything bad about it.”
Crow also spoke of his Dallas roots and his nostalgia for a “good America.”
—Quinn Donoghue
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