Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., filed articles of impeachment Wednesday against Supreme Court Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, saying their refusal to recuse themselves from certain important cases “constitutes a grave threat to the rule of law American”.
In a statement, the New York congresswoman said the justices’ refusal to step aside from cases “in which they have widely documented financial and personal involvement” has created a “crisis of rampant corruption at the Supreme Court.”
This, she said, “constitutes a grave threat to the American rule of law, the integrity of our democracy, and one of the clearest cases for which the tool of impeachment was designed.”
The high court did not immediately return a request for comment.
In her statement, Ocasio-Cortez said Alito’s impeachment resolution centered on his “refusal to recuse himself from cases in which he had a personal bias or prejudice toward a party in cases before the court” and his “failure to disclose financial income, gifts and reimbursements, ownership interests, liabilities and transactions, among other information.”
The resolutions were co-sponsored by Reps. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., Rashida Talib, D-Mich., Bonnie Watson Coleman, D-N.J., Delia Ramirez, D-Ill., Maxwell Frost, D-Fla., Ilhan Omar, D-Minn. and Jamaal Bowman, DN.Y.
The first charge centers on two controversial flags that were flown outside their homes – one american flag upside down it is a “Appeal to Heaven” Flag. Both flags have been carried in recent years by members of the “Stop the Steal” movement, whose supporters claim President Joe Biden did not legally win the 2020 presidential election. Alito said it was his wife’s decision to fly the flags.
Alito refused to recuse himself from two Trump-related cases that were pending in court when the flags’ existence was first reported.
The second charge against Alito appears to refer to Alito’s relationship with hedge fund billionaire Paul Singer, which ProPublica reported took Alito on a fishing trip to Alaska which the court did not disclose in the ethics reports. Alito later did not refuse to cases involving Singer.
Thomas’ article of impeachment centers on his “failure to disclose financial income, gifts and reimbursements, property interests, liabilities and transactions, among other information, refusal to recuse matters relating to his spouse’s legal interests in cases before the court [and] refusal to recuse matters involving your spouse’s financial interests in cases before the court.”
Thomas’ relationship with Republican mega-donor Harlan Crow has been the subject of intense scrutiny for months.
Extensive reporting last year by ProPublica showed that Thomas accepted luxurious gifts such as vacations and flights without disclosing them on official ethics forms.
Thomas has also drawn ire from critics over his wife Ginni Thomas’s conservative political activism, particularly her role in former President Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election in Arizona.
After the election, Ginni Thomas also sent messages to then-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows urging him to support Trump. Ginni Thomas later said she regretted sending these texts.
Still, Democrats called on Clarence Thomas to recuse himself from two cases involving Trump: a constitutional challenge to the former president’s reelection bid and Trump’s presidential immunity claims. Thomas did not recuse himself from either case, both victories for Trump.
He recused himself from a separate case related to January 6 in October 2023.
Lawrence Hurley contributed.
This story originally appeared on NBCNews.com read the full story
