A New York Times Investigation revealed that Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas was brought access to the wealthy through relationships he built with members of the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans.

It was reported that Thomas joined the bench in 1991, he was welcomed into the Horatio Alger Association, a nonprofit scholarship organization, where he forged relationships with a select group of largely wealthy conservatives.  This organization granted him access to wealthy friends who gifted Thomas with vacation retreats and V.I.P. tickets to sporting events, as well as invited him to parties, according to the Times.

The Time's Investigation discovered that Thomas received benefits from the members of the association and large donors to conservative causes.

The investigation said that Thomas did not disclose many of the gifts and trips over the last two decades.  After a 2004 investigation by The Los Angeles Times came out about his disclosures, he largely stopped disclosing them.