Five House Democrats petitioned Attorney General Merrick Garland over the weekend, demanding the Justice Department investigate Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. The request follows an investigative report by ProPublica that showed Thomas took dozens of trips paid for by wealthy friends. The allegedly problematic billionaire-subsidized travel goes back decades, which the report chronicled in painstaking detail.
The U.S. Supreme Court has no binding ethics code; however, justices must submit annual disclosure forms detailing gifts with exceptions carved out for family and gifts that fall under the so-called “personal hospitality loophole.” (RELATED: Supreme Court Revives Biden's ‘Ghost Gun' Restrictions)
However, Democrats led by New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez claim Thomas received gifts “in defiance of his duty under federal law.” Pointing to a statute requiring federal judges to disclose gifts, including travel valued at over $1,000, they wrote: “No individual, regardless of their position or stature, should be exempt from legal scrutiny for lawbreaking.”
Judiciary Committee ranking member Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), Oversight Committee ranking member Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), House Democratic Caucus Vice Chair Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) and Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) signed Ocasio-Cortez's letter. (RELATED: Newspaper Shares Salacious Details In Buried Obama Letter)
Thomas defended similar allegations in April when ProPublica published a report on vacations he took with GOP megadonor Harlan Crow. In a statement, the associate Supreme Court justice defended his character, saying he and his wife became friends with the Crows decades before and “as friends do, we have joined them on a number of family trips.”
Newsweek's Kaitlin Lewis further reports:
Under the Ethics of Government Act, justices are required to file annual disclosure reports regarding financial income and details on gifts and reimbursements. Lawmakers allege in Friday's letter that violation of the disclosure requirements “can carry both civil and criminal legal penalties.”
Lawmakers also allege that Thomas has used his position on the high court to help raise funds for the Horatio Alger Association, a nonprofit organization that has close ties to a number of wealthy, conservative members, according to a July report from The New York Times.
…
“Throughout such time, Mr. Crow has served on the Board of Directors of the American Enterprise Institute, which regularly files amicus briefs in Supreme Court cases and whose position Justice Thomas has regularly adopted,” Democrats wrote.
Thomas, who previously called Crow and his wife some of his “dearest friends,” has claimed that he had “sought guidance” from his colleagues early into his time on the Supreme Court, and that it was “advised that this sort of personal hospitality from close personal friends, who did not have business before the Court, was not reportable.”
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Except AOC…AOC is exempt. Met tickets & free dress and where did she stay? In a box under a bridge?
She does realize that congress has no control over the Supreme Court right? They are separate entities and equal under the Constitution. I believe Congress and the Senate need a refresher course regarding the Constitution and the three separate branches of government.
I went to Claremont, CA for a visit with old friends and dental work in Tijuana. I ended up painting 3 cars for the use of his vehicle. Walking around in his Bermuda shorts and hirachi sandals. I got no help in painting his cars. He treated me like his hired help in front of his girlfriend. He went on about his blackberry that fit in his back pocket. It even told him the time in Stuttgart, Germany. I told him Bill you have finally made it. What do you mean by that? My reply was= YOU REALLY DO HAVE YOUR BRAINS IN YOUR HAZZ. Take a computer away from a lot of people! They are no smarter than Micheal Jackson`s pet monkey. People should look before they make accusations against anyone. This includes people running this country.
Look at these communists, these anti-Americans standing up and calling for the head of a black pro-American.
These leftist nitwits are losing and desperate! I love it.
Nothing more hated by the left than a black conservative male except perhaps a black conservative female.
“ Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez claim.” that is all she ever has is “claim.”
Leave him alone enough