Democratic Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has filed articles of impeachment against Supreme Court Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas.
The congresswoman cites Alito and Thomas’ history of failing to report gifts they have received while serving on the Supreme Court.
Ocasio-Cortez’ Statement
In a statement accompanying her filing Ocasio-Cortez said “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, and their refusal to recuse from the specific matters and cases before the court in which their benefactors and spouses are implicated represents nothing less than a constitutional crisis.”
She concluded her statement saying “Congress has a legal, moral, and democratic obligation to impeach.”
Many Democratic House Members Co-Sponsor Impeachment Articles
Though Ocasio-Cortez is perhaps the biggest name attached to the articles of impeachment there are many other prominent Democrat House members attached.
These House members include Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Jamaal Bowman of New York and Rep. Barbara Lee of California.
Justice Alito’s Unreported Fishing Trip
Justice Alito has recently come under fire for his fishing trip to Alaska in July of 2008 with GOP billionaire Paul Singer. Singer, who flew Alito to Alaska on his private jet (saving the Justice an estimated $100,000 dollars on a one way trip alone) had multiple cases in front of the Supreme Court in the years subsequent to the Alaska trip.
In none of these cases did Alito recuse himself from presiding, which does not break any laws but many argue is ethically dubious. Alito also failed to report his private jet trip with Singer, a move that does appear to violate a federal law requiring justices to disclose most of their gifts.
Democratic Senators Seek Special Counsel To Address Thomas’ Gifts
Much has been made over the past few years of Justice Clarence Thomas’ history of receiving gifts from right wing benefactors that would stand to benefit from having a supreme court justice owing them a debt.
In only the most recent example, a Senate Judiciary Committee investigation found that Thomas failed to disclose receiving at least 35 gifts, including a private helicopter to a St. Petersburg and a free yacht trip to Russia in 2003.
Democratic Senators Seek Special Counsel To Address Thomas’ Gifts
Senators Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island and Ron Wyden of Oregon have written a letter asking Attorney General Merrick Garland to appoint a special counsel to investigate Thomas’ history of receiving gifts and the benefactors that provided him with them.
In this letter, Whitehouse and Wyden called on Garland and the justice department to investigate the “strong possibility of multiple federal ethics, tax and false statement violations” by Thomas.
Further Accusations In Senator’s Letter To AG
Wyden and Whitehouse’ letter went on to accuse Thomas of having “secretly accepted gifts and income potentially worth millions of dollars,” largely from Harlan Crowe, a billionaire real estate developer who has a close personal relationship with Thomas.
Additionally the letter raises the “serious possibility of tax fraud” by Thomas, and lists the “home renovations,” “real estate transactions,” and “multiple instances of free private jet travel, yacht travel, and lodging” provided to Thomas by Crowe, among many other benefits.
Democrats Have Put The Supreme Court In Their Crosshairs
The actions of Ocasio-Cortez, Wyden, and Whitehouse signal a focus from Democrats that they are prioritizing the Supreme Court in their messaging for this campaign year.
Dem leadership have even indicated that if they regain control of the House, certainly a big “If,” they would use it to launch an investigation into the alleged ethical failures of the justices.
A Panel On Supreme Court Ethics
Last month Ocasio-Cortez and Maryland Congressman Jamie Raskin hosted a panel on Supreme Court ethics.
This panel was the first major indication that the Dems plan to increase scrutiny on the alleged ethical lapses of the court.
Uphill Battle For Dems
Until Democrats control the House, actions like these articles of impeachment are largely symbolic, as they will doubtlessly be squashed by the GOP-controlled House.
Only the elections in November of 2026 will decide how all of these issues actually shake out, and whether anything can be done about the alleged corruption in the highest court in the land.
