Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez says that the multiple payment schemes portraying Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and his wife Virginia “Ginni” Thomas as ethically compromised demand swift, decisive action from the highest court in the land.
Calling the unfolding situation “corruption plain and simple,” Ocasio-Cortez is calling on Chief Justice John Roberts to force Thomas out of the Supreme Court. “Thomas should resign immediately and Roberts should see to it that he does,” the Congresswoman says.
This is corruption. Plain and simple. And each day that passes, the Supreme Court is looking less like a bench and more like an auction house.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) May 5, 2023
Thomas should resign immediately and Roberts should see to it that he does. https://t.co/FE9FcRNFUV
With Thomas and his wife having failed to disclose enormous sums of money given to them by billionaire Harlan Crow and Federalist Society kingmaker Leonard Leo, the optics — at the very least — look bad. Chief Justice Roberts is well aware of the importance of good optics for maintaining the court’s legitimacy, and also well aware of the fragility of the Court’s reputation, which has fallen drastically in polls over the last 18 months.
After SCOTUS’s controversial strike down of Roe v. Wade last year, Roberts felt the need to defend at length the legitimacy of what the public sees as an increasingly politicized court. See C-SPAN interview below.
Ocasio-Cortez also retweeted the outraged reaction of Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse to the ballooning Thomas scandals. Whitehouse, who has been hammering the SCOTUS on its ethics lapses, wrote:
“When does the stench get bad enough that SCOTUS stops the cover-up and ends the mischief? This is on the Chief Justice to solve, plain and simple. Mom’s rent, family tuition, vacations and gifts — and secret? Any other government employee would be fired.”
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