Congresswoman Bush Statement Calling for the Impeachment of Justice Clarence Thomas
Washington, D.C. (Apr. 18, 2023) — Congresswoman Cori Bush (MO-01) released the following statement calling for the impeachment of U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Clarence Thomas in the wake of a barrage of ethics scandals.
“Justice Clarence Thomas has made a mockery of his ethical obligations and disgraced himself and the entire judiciary. Recent reports indicate that Justice Thomas may have violated federal law by willfully failing to disclose gifts, travel, and real estate transactions involving a wealthy benefactor, and by disclosing hundreds of thousands of dollars in income from a firm that has not existed since 2006. These revelations are just the latest in a pattern of lawless and shocking behavior that has characterized Justice Thomas’s career.
“It is clear that Justice Thomas holds a complete disregard for law and ethics that is incompatible with the trust and confidence placed in federal judges. For these reasons, and because the federal judiciary has failed to hold Justice Thomas accountable, I am calling for impeachment proceedings to begin regarding Justice Thomas’s apparent violations of federal law.
“Holding judges accountable for their behavior is a matter of life-or-death for our communities. They wield enormous power, and the current hands-off approach to the judiciary has only emboldened lawless, corrupt, far-right judges to strip away our rights and make our lives worse off. This is why, in addition to impeachment, Congress must pass Supreme Court ethics reform, expand the Court, institute term limits, and take other actions to rein in this unaccountable, anti-democratic, and dangerous institution. Whether for reproductive freedom, civil liberties, labor rights, voting rights, or something else, every person has a stake in holding the judiciary accountable.
“History will judge how Congress responded during this crisis in our federal judiciary. House Republicans must move forward with impeachment proceedings. But if they continue choosing not to act, the Judicial Conference of the United States must immediately exercise its authority and refer Justice Thomas to the Attorney General for further action.”
On April 6, 2023, ProPublica revealed Justice Thomas failed to disclose private gifts and travel from a wealthy benefactor and real estate magnate for over 20 years. It appears that Justice Thomas intentionally withheld this information, given that he previously reported the travel but stopped doing so after negative media attention. On April 13, 2023, another ProPublica story revealed that Justice Thomas failed to disclose that the wealthy benefactor bought properties from him and his relatives for at least double what Thomas had said those properties were worth. Thomas’s mother continues to live in one of those properties without paying rent. On April 16, 2023, the Washington Post revealed that over the last two decades, Justice Thomas has disclosed that his family received hundreds of thousands of dollars in rental income from a firm that has not existed since 2006.
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