Articles of Impeachment -> Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas

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Articles of Impeachment have been filed ​

against Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas

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Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas is pictured posing for an official photograph in
Washington, D.C. on October 7, 2022. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez filed articles
of impeachment against Thomas and fellow conservative Justice Samuel Alito on Wednesday,
one day after two senators urged Attorney General Merrick Garland to appoint a special counsel
for a criminal investigation.


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."


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The U.S. Constitution provides that the House of Representatives ''shall have the sole Power of Impeachment'' and that all civil officers of the United States ''shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors."

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and Justice Samuel Alito attend a private ceremony for the late Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor on December 18, 2023 in Washington, DC. Democrats are seeking to impeach... More JACQUELYN MARTIN/GETTY IMAGES


The impeachment articles for Clarence Thomas are 15 pages long and cover a wide range of behavior, from taking gifts from his billionaire friend, Harlan Crow, to giving behind-the-scenes advice to Donald Trump on how to get elected.

The articles cite Thomas for "high crimes and misdemeanors," the constitutional standard for impeachment.

What Gifts Is Thomas Accused of Taking?​

According to the resolution that backs the articles of impeachment, "over the course of at least 15 years, Justice Thomas and his wife, Virginia "Ginni" Thomas, have received gifts of significant value from conservative billionaire Harlan Crow without reporting the source, description, and value of such gifts."​

Why Is Harlan Crow So Generous?​

Crow has served on the board of directors of the American Enterprise Institute, which regularly files amicus "friends of the court" briefs in Supreme Court cases. The impeachment articles claim that Thomas has "regularly adopted" Crow's position on legal cases.​

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What Gifts Specifically?​

Trips on a private airplane and a yacht trip to and from Indonesia in 2019, valued at approximately $500,000; a yacht trip to and around New Zealand "in or around 2013;" a yacht trip to Greece in 2007; extensive free lodging and food at Topridge, a resort in the Adirondacks owned by a company that is, in turn, owned or controlled by Crow; multiple private plane trips to New Haven, Connecticut, in 2016; Dallas, Texas, in 2018 and again in 2022; New York City in 2021, and to Topridge Resort in New York in 2022.​

Anything Else Apart From Travel?​

Tuition payments, in excess of $6,000 per month, to two private boarding schools for Thomas's grandnephew "while his grandnephew lived with Justice Thomas and was in Justice Thomas's legal custody."​

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What About Reports of Generosity to Clarence Thomas' Mother?​

In addition, there is property. Thomas allegedly "failed to disclose the 2014 sale of a single-story home and two vacant lots previously held by Justice Thomas and two family members, to Mr. Crow for $133,363, an amount significantly higher than the price of other properties in the neighborhood and significantly higher than $15,000, the amount that Justice Thomas valued his one-third stake in the properties in 2010."​

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It also alleges that Crow "permitted Justice Thomas's mother to continue living in the home rent-free through at least May 13, 2023, and has paid for improvements for the benefit of Justice Thomas's mother, including construction of a car port."​

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The impeachment articles do accept that "Thomas retroactively amended his 2014 report to report the real estate sales transactions" but not the free rent or improvements to his mother's house.​

Anything Else?​

In addition, Thomas was allegedly involved in cases in which his spouse, Ginni Thomas, has a financial interest.​

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"In 2011, Harlan Crow contributed $500,000 to Liberty Central, an organization founded by Mrs. Thomas and which, in 2010, paid Mrs. Thomas a salary of $120,000," the articles state.​

Newsweek sought email comment from Clarence Thomas, Ginni Thomas and Harlan Crow on Thursday.

Clarence Thomas impeachment: Everything we know

Thomas is accused of taking gifts for himself, his wife and his mother.

www.newsweek.com

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