On Wednesday, July 10, 2024, Fox News reported that Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez filed articles of impeachment against two Supreme Court justices.
The articles were filed against Justice Samuel Alito and Justice Clarence Thomas. In her filing, Ocasio-Cortez alleged “unchecked corruption” by the two justices. She claimed that over many years, both Thomas and Alito failed to properly disclose gifts worth millions of dollars that they had received from individuals who later had business before the Court. Ocasio-Cortez argued that this level of nondisclosure is expressly prohibited and could result in removal from any other court.
In addition, Ocasio-Cortez accused the justices of repeatedly refusing to recuse themselves from cases where the individuals or organizations that had given them large gifts were involved as parties before the Court. She said their failure to recuse themselves in such cases of potential conflicts of interest represented a “constitutional crisis.” If the behavior had occurred in a lower court, it would merit removal, according to the congresswoman.
Specifically, the articles of impeachment against Justice Thomas included three charges. One involved undisclosed gifts and two involved his lack of recusing in cases that potentially could have impacted his wife’s legal and financial interests. For Justice Alito, the articles included two charges. One dealt with failure to disclose gifts and the other involved his lack of recusing when he may have had a personal bias regarding a party before the Court.
Previously, Ocasio-Cortez had threatened to file articles of impeachment in response to a Supreme Court ruling on presidential immunity. That decision stated that a president generally has immunity from prosecution for official actions taken as part of his constitutional duties while in office. She criticized the ruling as an “assault on American democracy.”
The representative argued that Justice Alito demonstrated bias toward former President Trump in that case and in cases related to the January 6th riots. As evidence of this claimed bias, she cited Alito flying an “appeal to heaven” flag at his home, which some associate with American independence and has been used by groups involved in the riots.
By filing articles of impeachment, Ocasio-Cortez aims to hold the two justices accountable through the Congressional impeachment process for their alleged misconduct involving undisclosed gifts and financial entanglements as well as failure to properly recuse themselves in related cases before the Supreme Court.
Source: Fox News
