Real estate mogul Harlan Crow has been in the national spotlight lately over his penchant for giving extravagant (undisclosed!) gifts to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas: private jet trips, mega yacht excursions and a $19,000 bible, to name just a few. He also spent $133,363 to buy several properties from Thomas—including the home the justice’s mother still lives in. Crow, and groups linked with him, often have cases before the court, and Thomas has ruled in their favor. As Slate’s Dahlia Lithwick and Mark Joseph Stern wrote, this sure seems like a case of “classic quid pro quo (or perhaps quid pro Crow) corruption.”

Though most of us probably didn’t even know Crow existed until recently, the 73-year-old Texan has been pouring his wealth into influencing American politics since the 1990s. Transparency group OpenSecrets identified $14.7 million that Crow and his wife Kathy have contributed to state and federal candidates, committees and parties over the past three decades.

In an interview with the Dallas Morning News, Crow said he considers […]