Rep. Johnson Leads Press Conference Calling on SCOTUS Justice Thomas to Resign
In the wake of multiple ProPublica, Washington Post Reports Chronicling Justice Thomas Luxury Trips, Lavish Gifts and Sweetheart Real Estate Deals With GOP Megadonor, Members & Advocates Call on Thomas to Step Down
WASHINGTON, D.C. – On Wednesday, April 19 at 1 PM, Congressman Hank Johnson (GA-04), ranking member of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, Rep. Jesús “Chuy” García (IL-04) and stakeholder groups – led by the Center for Popular Democracy – will be calling on Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas to resign. It comes in the wake of ProPublica and Washington Post reports that showed the justice indulged himself and his wife in privately paid luxury travel, exorbitant gifts and sweetheart real estate deals with a billionaire Republican megadonor – none of which the justice disclosed.
CONGRESSMAN'S COMMENTS
Hello everyone, I’m Congressman Hank Johnson of Georgia, and I’m the ranking member of the Judiciary Subcommittee that oversees our courts.
I want to thank my friend and colleague, Congressman “Chuy” Garcia of Illinois for being with us today, as well as a big thanks to the Center for Popular Democracy for organizing this gathering.
I also want to thank all our guests from Move On Political Action, the Alliance for Justice, Demand Justice, Demand Progress, Make the Road States, End Citizens United/Let America
Vote, Rights and Democracy, Texas Organizing Project and People for the American Way.
Thank you all for being here.
I am deeply disappointed and angered by the revelations in the ProPublica and Washington Post reports, that Justice Thomas has been using his position as a Supreme Court Justice, to live like an out of control billionaire baller, on a $263K per year salary, lining his pockets and traveling in luxury-Elon Musk style, all the while falsifying his disclosure forms to keep his opulent lifestyle a secret from the American public – a public that deserves his honest services.
Justice Thomas has been brazenly corrupted and compromised by Republican dark-monied, megadonor Harlan Crow. Over the past 20 years, Justice Thomas has sanctimoniously paraded as a modest, pristine, and principled man, using the media to falsely project that he was the type of guy who preferred Walmart parking lots, to the sandy beaches of Florida. The naked truth is that for at least the last 20 years, Justice Thomas has been lavishly wined and dined, with frequent flyer private jet, and superyacht travel, to exotic locales worldwide, while also being ingratiated with exquisite accommodations, meals, and expensive gifts -- including a $19,000 Bible.
And that’s only the start.
Billionaire Crow bought properties from Justice Thomas and his relatives for at least double what Justice Thomas had said they were worth. That was wrong. And even though the law clearly required him to disclose these real estate deals, Justice Thomas hid them. Now, we even know that Crow bought and renovated the house where Justice Thomas’ momma lives, and now we are hearing reports that Justice Thomas’ mom, has been living rent free since Harlan Crowe became her landlord almost 10 years ago.
Over the last two decades, Justice Thomas has also reported that his family received hundreds of thousands of dollars of “rent” from a firm that hasn’t existed in almost 20 years. So much for the welfare queens he criticized so angrily throughout his career. It’s more than a little ironic that it turns out he’s the one that’s been using his powerful government position for handouts.
And if that was not enough, Justice Thomas for years hid the hundreds of thousands of dollars his wife was earning from a conservative think tank, and income from a conservative college.
And he hid his own reimbursements from speaking engagements.
And what is Justice Thomas's response? That he either didn’t know or didn't understand the required disclosure forms. This, from a man who professes strict and rigid adherence to the right-wing judicial philosophy of textualism. And this, from a man who sits on our nation’s highest Court, empowered with the authority and responsibility to decide grave matters of constitutional significance, including the right to life itself.
To protect what little is left of public trust and respect for the United States Supreme Court, Justice Thomas must resign immediately. It's not enough to amend and try to hide your corruption. It's too late for that.
But it's not too late for our democracy. So, with that, I'll turn it over to Analilia Mejia, co-Executive Director, Center for Popular Democracy. Thank you.
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