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Dear John,
You have likely seen my messages calling for actions to restore integrity to the U.S. Supreme Court. These actions have ranged from passing the Supreme Court Ethics Act, establishing a set of accountability principles, to establishing term limits, expanding the size of the court, and holding Justice Clarence Thomas to account for his ethical lapses and conflicts of interest.
Now Justice Thomas is under scrutiny again, and it’s time to take action to rein him in and restore credibility to the Court.
ProPublica’s newest investigation reveals Justice Thomas has not just one but multiple billionaire benefactors, who have been bankrolling his lavish lifestyle over the last several decades.
Potentially illegal unreported gifts include at least 38 luxury vacations, 26 private jet flights, 8 helicopter flights, 12 VIP sports passes, as well as resort stays in Florida and Jamaica, a private yacht vacation in the Bahamas, an invitation to an exclusive golf club, and private school tuition for his grandnephew.
What do Justice Thomas’ rich buddies get for their largesse? Well, for one thing, it seems they get an illegal, extra-Constitutional seat at the table while the court hears the upcoming case, Moore v. United States, and decides whether billionaires can be required to pay taxes on their unrealized wealth gains.
Justice Thomas’ receipt of millions of dollars in gifts from billionaires has compromised his ability to decide this case without bias toward his multiple wealthy benefactors. Join me in calling on him to recuse himself in Moore v. United States now.
If Thomas and his Supreme Court colleagues rule in favor of millionaires, billionaires, and executives, and against the American people, it would shield the ultra-wealthy from paying taxes on their massive gains in wealth.
As proposed by the Billionaire Minimum Income Tax -- a bill that Congress hasn’t even passed yet -- wealth in households worth more than $100 million would be subject to new taxes designed to finally make the ultra-rich pay what they owe in taxes. But Justice Thomas and the other compromised justices on the Supreme Court could stop it with a pre-emptive decision to help out their well-connected pals.
We need to press for Supreme Court accountability from every possible angle.
Whether it’s focusing on structural reforms, Senate oversight actions, or calling out ethical lapses by individual justices, we won’t stop fighting to reform the Supreme Court until the legitimacy of the institution and its role in protecting basic rights is restored.
Sign the petition and demand Clarence Thomas recuse himself from Moore v. U.S., based on his clear conflicts of interest now.
Thank you for your efforts to bring integrity and legitimacy back to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Robert Reich
Inequality Media Civic Action
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