By D. Michael DeRidder
Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC, D-N.Y.) announced she has introduced articles of impeachment against U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) Associate Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito. In a press release today, she claimed the justices’ refusal to recuse from “consequential matters” has created a constitutional crisis:
The unchecked corruption crisis on the Supreme Court has now spiraled into a Constitutional crisis threatening American democracy writ large. Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito’s pattern of refusal to recuse from consequential matters before the court in which they hold widely documented financial and personal entanglements constitutes a grave threat to American rule of law, the integrity of our democracy, and one of the clearest cases for which the tool of impeachment was designed.
Ocasio-Cortez accused Thomas of committing high crimes and misdemeanors by receiving gifts from real-estate billionaire Harlan Crow. She also alleged Thomas did not report property sales, writing in the articles:
Clarence Thomas, in his conduct as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, engaged in high crimes and misdemeanors, by refusing to report the source, description, and value of gifts, and by failing to report the description, date, and category of his sale of real estate property….
Among Alito’s “high crimes and misdemeanors” was reportedly flying an American flag upside down, allegedly in violation of his constitutional oath of office. AOC also accused him of not recusing himself from several SCOTUS cases:
Samuel Alito, in his conduct as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, engaged in high Crimes and Misdemeanors, by refusing to disqualify himself from proceedings in which his impartiality might reasonably be questioned, as follows:
In January 2021, Justice Alito allowed an upside down American flag to be flown outside his primary residence for several days. At the time, an upside-down American flag was widely understood to be an expression of support for the criminal efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election and was a symbol displayed by those who attacked the Capitol on January 6, 2021, an event that occurred only shortly before Justice Alito allowed the flags to be flown outside his residence. By displaying this flag, he showed support for domestic enemies of the United States, some of whom engaged in an insurrection at the U.S. Capitol building, in violation of his Constitutional Oath of office….
Justice Samuel Alito, Jr.’s failure to recuse in Trump v. United States, No. 23–939 (July 1, 2024), Fischer v. United States, No. 23–5572 (June 28, 2024), and Trump v. Anderson, No. 23–719 (March 4, 2024) … serves as the legal basis for impeachment.
