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Hi,
For years, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito have been taking millions of dollars in undisclosed gifts from billionaires with business before the Supreme Court in clear violation of federal law.
They refused to recuse themselves from cases when they had clear conflicts of interest, including the cases involving the January 6 insurrection and criminal immunity for Donald Trump.1
But finally, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is taking action to hold them accountable.
AOC just filed articles of impeachment against Justices Thomas and Alito — and now we need to have her back.2 We've mobilized tens of thousands of people to urge Congress to hold a vote on AOC's articles of impeachment, and now we must turn up the heat.
A recent compilation of all the reported handouts to Clarence Thomas shows that he has received at least $4 million in gifts during his time on the nation's most powerful court, including:
- 26 private jet flights and 8 private helicopter rides to vacation destinations around the world;
- A $270,000 ultra-luxury RV known as the "Rolls Royce of motor coaches," paid for with a loan from a health insurance executive that was later forgiven;
- Free access to an uber-exclusive golf club overlooking the Atlantic coast;
- A dozen VIP passes to professional and college sporting events;
- At least 38 destination vacations, including cruises on a massive superyacht;
- Two stays at luxury resorts in Florida and Jamaica;
- $133,363 for the sale of Thomas's mother's house (substantially above market value), where she still lives rent-free;
- $80,000 paid directly to Thomas's wife, Ginni, from super-lobbyist Leonard Leo; and
- Private school tuition for the grandnephew he was "raising as a son."3,4,5
Justice Alito's list of scandals isn't quite as long, but the corruption is equally as shameless.
For instance, in 2008, he took a luxury vacation to Alaska worth over $100,000, paid for by Republican megadonor Paul Singer — and then refused to recuse himself in at least 10 cases in which Singer came before the court, including one that netted Singer $2.4 billion.6
Later it was revealed that Alito personally owned stock in 17 companies that stood to gain almost $30 billion in tax refunds under a case decided last term by the Supreme Court, and he absolutely refused to recuse himself.7
And perhaps most dangerously, both Thomas and Alito refused to recuse themselves from cases stemming from the effort to overturn the 2020 election, despite the fact that Justice Thomas's wife, Ginni, personally attended the January 6 "Stop the Steal" rally and participated in the scheme to overturn the election, and Justice Alito indicated support for the attack by flying pro-insurrection flags over his homes.8
Demand Progress Action has worked for years to restrain the radical right-wing takeover of the Supreme Court, and now we're pushing to support Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's effort to finally get Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito off the Court.
With gratitude,
The team at Demand Progress Action
Sources:
1. The New York Times, "Justices Thomas and Alito Ignored Calls for Recusal in Jan. 6 Case," June 28, 2024.
2. Rolling Stone, "AOC Files Articles of Impeachment Against Thomas and Alito," July 10, 2024.
3. Fix the Court, "A Staggering Tally: Supreme Court Justices Accepted Hundreds of Gifts Worth Millions of Dollars," June 6, 2024.
4. ProPublica, "Friends of the Court," accessed July 10, 2024.
5. Rolling Stone, "Clarence Thomas, a $267,000 RV, and Why American Health Care Sucks," July 13, 2024.
6. ProPublica, "Justice Samuel Alito Took Luxury Fishing Vacation With GOP Billionaire Who Later Had Cases Before the Court," June 20, 2023.
7. The Lever, "Justices Have Financial Interest In Major Tax Case," September 27, 2023.
8. The New York Times, "Justices Thomas and Alito Ignored Calls for Recusal in Jan. 6 Case," June 28, 2024.
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