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Dear John,
Congress returns from its holiday recess tomorrow and, as I’ve been saying for months, the Supreme Court still needs reform -- badly!
Congress must pass new enforceable ethics standards, such as the Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal, and Transparency Act and establish term limits for justices. But that’s not all they should do.
They also must impeach Justice Clarence Thomas.
It won’t happen, though, unless we keep up the public pressure for accountability. The good news is that pressure is having an impact. After hearing insurrection-related cases for over a year without recusing himself, Justice Thomas finally recused himself from such a case for the first time ever in October.
But that is just one case, and more Trump-related cases will be coming before the court, including issues of presidential immunity and whether Trump is eligible to hold office under the 14th Amendment. Will Justice Thomas recuse himself from those cases? Not likely.
There’s really only one way to hold Justice Clarence Thomas accountable. He has serious conflicts of interest affecting multiple cases that come before the court every year. His presence on the Supreme Court harms the institution. Congress must impeach him.
The one insurrection-related case from which Thomas recused himself involved whether the January 6 Committee investigation should have access to a trove of emails from indicted alleged co-conspirator Trump attorney John Eastman, Justice Thomas’ former law clerk.
In one of those emails, fellow Trump attorney Kenneth Chesebro, also under indictment for conspiracy, wrote that Justice Thomas was their “best shot” at getting the certification of millions of votes rejected in Georgia.
“We want to frame things so that Thomas could be the one to issue some sort of stay or other circuit justice opinion saying Georgia is in legitimate doubt,” he wrote.
The insurrectionists clearly viewed Justice Thomas as being on their side. His wife Ginni was in active communication with Trump Chief of Staff Mark Meadows that day, texting, “Help this Great President stand firm, Mark!!!” even as violence erupted and Trump did nothing, despite being informed in a written note that a citizen had already been shot and killed.
Justice Thomas’ conflicts of interest aren’t just related to Donald Trump. They have gone on for decades. ProPublica has reported Thomas’ many billionaire benefactors have treated him to at least 38 luxury vacations, 26 private jet flights, 8 helicopter flights, 12 VIP sports passes, a private yacht vacation in the Bahamas, an invitation to an exclusive golf club, and private school tuition for his grandnephew.
Justice Thomas did not report any of it, possibly violating federal law, but definitely violating public trust and basic judicial ethics.
In return, the billionaires appear to get an automatic Supreme Court vote against any wealth tax ever, including the proposed Billionaires Income Tax Act.
Whether through structural reforms, Senate oversight, 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.
We must demand Supreme Court accountability from every possible angle, including the impeachment of Clarence Thomas. Please add your name 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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