Articles of impeachment have been filed against Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas in the U.S. House just one day after two senators pushed for a federal criminal investigation of Thomas, alleging ethics violations.
Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez announced on Wednesday that she had introduced articles of impeachment for Thomas and fellow conservative Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, accusing both of failing to disclose gifts and reimbursements and refusing to recuse themselves in cases in which they had conflicts of interest.
“Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito’s pattern of refusal to recuse from consequential matters before the court in which they hold widely documented financial and personal entanglements constitutes a grave threat to American rule of law, the integrity of our democracy, and one of the clearest cases for which the tool of impeachment was designed,” Ocasio-Cortez said in a statement.
“Justice Thomas and Alito’s repeated failure over decades to disclose that they received millions of dollars in gifts from individuals with business before the court is explicitly against the law,” she added. “Congress has a legal, moral, and democratic obligation to impeach.”
Newsweek reached out for comment to a Supreme Court spokesperson via email on Wednesday.
The impeachment resolution against Thomas specifically accuses him of “failure to disclose financial income, gifts and reimbursements, property interests, liabilities, and transactions, among other information.”
Thomas, 76, the oldest and longest-serving Supreme Court justice, is also accused of “failure to recuse himself” in cases involving the financial or legal interests of his wife, conservative activist Ginni Thomas.
Similar allegations are made in the impeachment resolution against Alito, although he is accused of not recusing himself in cases involving his own “personal bias or prejudice concerning a party.”
The resolutions were co-sponsored by eight of Ocasio-Cortez’s Democratic House colleagues and endorsed by several progressive groups. However, the impeachments are unlikely to move forward in the House soon, as the chamber is controlled by Republicans.
Mike Davis, conservative lawyer who previously promised to usher in a “reign of terror” if appointed attorney general under former President Donald Trump, claimed that the impeachment articles were “frivolous,” “desperate” and somehow linked to President Joe Biden in a post to X, formerly Twitter.
“Biden Democrats are desperate,” Davis wrote. “@AOC filed frivolous articles of impeachment against Justices Thomas and Alito. The Supreme Court is our last line of defense. Biden Democrats want to destroy it. Then take away our God-given rights. Everything is on the line on November 5th.”
On Tuesday, Democratic Senators Sheldon Whitehouse and Ron Wyden announced that they had sent Attorney General Merrick Garland a letter requesting that he appoint a special counsel to investigate the allegations leveled against Thomas.
The senators argued that the evidence against Thomas “warrants criminal investigation,” accusing him of violations that include failing to disclose a number of expensive gifts from billionaire Republican donor Harlan Crow and never paying taxes on a more than $267,000 forgiven loan from another wealthy business owner.
“Appointment of a Special Counsel would serve the public interest,” Whitehouse and Wyden wrote. “The public must have confidence that the judiciary and the Department of Justice execute their responsibilities fairly, impartially, and without respect to political expedience or partisan interests.”
Thomas previously defended himself in a statement, arguing that the gifts from Crow were “not reportable,” that he had sought out “guidance” before accepting them and that he “always sought to comply with the disclosure guidelines.”
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