And, you know, I can't think of a single time where a Supreme Court justice has been fined under the law for accepting an improper gift. But rules often - like these are only as strong as they're going to be enforced. So in general, Supreme Court justices under law should not be soliciting any gifts from anyone - especially if they have business before the courts. ROTH: There are, but they're pretty flexible. RASCOE: Are there rules around who can give gifts to Supreme Court justices? It matters that Thomas received a six-figure gift that went unreported. But Mark was never officially his adopted son or adopted by him. Thomas was the legal guardian of Mark Martin.

RASCOE: And so for those listening, this grandnephew was in the care of Justice Thomas at the time.

And obviously, about $100,000 worth of tuition is more than $400, so it needed to be reported in the annual disclosures. And there is a section of your financial disclosure report, and you're supposed to include any gifts that you receive from any source that's greater than around $400. Fact of the matter is that this was a gift to Thomas. So defenders of Thomas say that because this gift was to his grandnephew and his grandnephew was not technically his dependent child, as it's defined in federal law, that it didn't need to be reported all those years ago. ROTH: So it is allowed, but what's not allowed is the lack of reporting. Is this sort of gift allowed for Supreme Court justices? RASCOE: So let's start with Justice Thomas and the tuition gift. GABE ROTH: Thanks so much for having me, Ayesha. He's executive director of the nonprofit group Fix the Court. To better understand the rules surrounding income and gifts to Supreme Court justices, we're joined by Gabe Roth.

ProPublica has reported before about Crow's other gifts to Thomas over the years including luxury vacations and real estate. The report says billionaire Harlan Crow paid the private school tuition for Thomas's grandnephew - tuition that runs more than $6,000 a month. Last Thursday, ProPublica reported that Thomas received and failed to disclose a gift from a GOP megadonor. The revelations keep coming about Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.

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