Despite claiming the money used to buy the RV was a personal loan he was repaying, Clarence Thomas apparently never made a payment to Anthony Welters for the $267,000 Welters fronted in 1999 for the 40-foot vehicle, the New York Times reports.
The loan, Welters told the Times for a report it ran on the transaction last summer, was “satisfied” in 2003, but the Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee found no evidence Thomas ever paid a cent toward the principle loan amount. Instead, Welters told the Committee it was more like a balloon payment for a mortgage, where Thomas only paid the 7.5% interest amount, roughly $20,000 per year. The principle amount was due at the loan maturity date, December 2004, according to paperwork Welters provided.
Welters also provided a handwritten note with Thomas’s signature, presumably written by Thomas, on Supreme Court letterhead in which Thomas specifies the loan agreement reflects their mutual understanding and that Thomas agrees to adhere to the letter of the agreement. But no records show Thomas made the required balloon payment even though Clarence and Ginni retained ownership of the RV.