Clarence Thomas' "son" says he's been cut off from Supreme Court justice

Clarence Thomas

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Matthew Impelli

By Matthew Impelli

Life & Trends Reporter

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The "son" of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas recently said he's been cut off from the man who raised him.

On Tuesday, 32-year-old Mark Martin spoke to Business Insider about his life and how he is currently in jail on drug-related charges. Martin is the grandson of Emma Mae Martin, the sister of Justice Clarence Thomas.

From 1997 to 2010, Clarence Thomas and his wife, Ginni Thomas, were legal guardians of Martin and they raised him during this time.

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However, during the interview with Business Insider this week, Martin said that he has not "really heard much from them in a long time."

"I tried to communicate with them a couple of times, but I've never gotten any response," Martin told Business Insider.

In 2007, Thomas told C-Span that he and his wife were raising Martin "as a son."

Clarence Thomas

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"For me, in so many ways, it's rewarding because it's brought me, again, full circle," Thomas told C-Span in 2007. "I was about the age my grandfather was when he took my brother and me. And Mark was about the age my brother and I were when he took us in."

The remarks by Martin to Business Insider this week come as Thomas faces widespread criticism over trips he took that were paid for by major Republican donor Harlan Crow. Last year, ProPublica published a report detailing the trips Thomas took that were paid for by Crow.

According to the report, Thomas and his wife, Ginni, took trips paid for by Crow almost on a yearly basis for over two decades. The report states interviews and documents detailed Thomas traveled on Crow's yacht, as well as his jet. Last week, Thomas officially disclosed two trips paid for by Crow on financial disclosure forms.

In a statement responding to the report last year, Thomas said, "Harlan and Kathy Crow are among our dearest friends, and we have been friends for over twenty-five years. As friends do, we have joined them on a number of family trips during the more than quarter century we have known them."

Responding to the disclosure on X, formerly Twitter, attorney George Conway said, "I'm sorry. It's long past time for there to be a comprehensive criminal investigation, and congressional investigation, of Justice Thomas and his finances and his taxes. What he has taken, and what he has failed to disclose, is beyond belief, and has been so for quite some time."

During his interview with Business Insider, Martin mentioned Crow saying, "I guess they looked into Randolph-Macon Academy because Harlan Crow actually graduated from there, so I guess that was behind their decision to send me there."

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