Congressional Democratic leaders and judicial advocates are demanding action after a ProPublica bombshell report published on Thursday revealed Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’ undisclosed ties to GOP megadonor Harlan Crow.
Citing travel records and interviews, the report states that Thomas has been breaking the law for more than two decades by “accepting luxury trips virtually every year” from Crow without reporting them.
Thomas’ failure to disclose the trips violates a law requiring judges, members of Congress and other federal officials to report most gifts, including private jet flights, according to the article.
Brian Fallon, the executive director of Demand Justice, called on the Senate to not let “this extraordinary display of corruption and lawbreaking go unanswered.”
“Senate Democrats cannot force Thomas to resign or give him the impeachment trial he clearly deserves, but they can hold hearings to further expose Justice Thomas’ apparent lawbreaking and the Republican justices’ deep ties to far-right donors,” Fallon said.
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, called for more oversight over the court, which lacks a binding ethics code.
“This cries out for the kind of independent investigation that the Supreme Court — and only the Supreme Court, across the entire government — refuses to perform,” Whitehouse said.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) said Thomas should be impeached.
“This is beyond party or partisanship. This degree of corruption is shocking — almost cartoonish,” she wrote on Twitter.
This is beyond party or partisanship. This degree of corruption is shocking – almost cartoonish. Thomas must be impeached.
Barring some dramatic change, this is what the Roberts court will be known for: rank corruption, erosion of democracy, and the stripping of human rights. https://t.co/t8fnGLVhbV
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) April 6, 2023
Thomas has already been under fire over ethics issues. He drew intense backlash for failing to recuse himself in a case brought by Donald Trump seeking to block the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection from obtaining access to White House documents and communications, even though his wife worked with Trump supporters to undo the 2020 election.
Thomas ignored ProPublica’s questions and has not responded to its report.
