Dear John,

Sometimes the work we do together makes national news. Last week, I posted on social media about Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’ conflicts of interest in ruling on the alarming Moore v. Harper case currently being heard by the Court. The bogus independent state legislature theory at the heart of Moore v. Harper was used by Thomas’ wife, Ginni Thomas, to pressure state lawmakers to overturn the 2020 election results.

Later that day, Lawrence O’Donnell on MSNBC’s the Last Word, used the tweet as the foundation for a segment dedicated to delving into whether Justice Thomas is breaking the law by not recusing himself from the decision in this case.

Harvard Law professor and expert in constitutional law, Laurence Tribe, thinks Justice Thomas is violating at least two provisions of 28 U.S. code, Section 455 that he interprets as clearly stating a Supreme Court judge may not participate in a case if somebody could reasonably question that Justice's impartiality. He says another section states that, if the Justice’s spouse has an interest in the case, the Justice must not participate.

Ginni Thomas used the independent state legislature theory -- at the heart of Moore v. Harper -- in her efforts to try to overturn the will of the people in 2020.

I cannot think of a more obvious conflict of interest for Justice Thomas.

That’s why we called for Justice Thomas to recuse from the case. Now that he has chosen not to do that, it’s time for the U.S. Senate to investigate corruption and ethical lapses at the Supreme Court. Please sign on to the campaign now.

Moore v. Harper poses a serious threat to our democracy. If the Supreme Court rules in favor of the plaintiffs, it would be even easier for Republican-controlled state legislatures to pull all sorts of election trickery -- like pass harsher voter suppression laws, enact even more gerrymandered maps, and overrule the will of the people by changing how electors are chosen in a presidential election.

The actions of Ginni Thomas are enough to call for Justice Thomas to recuse. Add to this that Justice Thomas was the lone dissenter in the Supreme Court's January order rejecting Trump's bid to withhold documents from the January 6 panel, and his refusal to recuse fundamentally damages the integrity of the Court.

It’s time for Congress to take the possibility of Supreme Court corruption seriously. Call on the U.S. Senate to investigate corruption and ethical lapses at the Supreme Court now.

Thank you for speaking up today.

Robert Reich
Inequality Media Civic Action