Corruption, without consequence, infects all it touches. Congress must exercise its powers to impeach.
The corruption of Justices Thomas & Alito constitutes a clear danger to our democracy. I moved to impeach them because it is the right thing to do for the American people. pic.twitter.com/eOscx9avE1
— Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@RepAOC) July 11, 2024
… And also Wonkette. (My thanks to commentor TBone for the reminder!) Per Wonkette, “AOC Gonna Impeach Justices Thomas And Alito, For Torts Of Shameless, Disgraceful VERGOGGGGNA”:
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez yesterday filed articles of impeachment against Supreme Court Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito to call attention to their complete indifference to judicial ethics and their refusal to recuse themselves from hearing cases in which they either have friends with interests at stake or in which they (or their spouses) have clearly taken a political stance.
Both justices took oaths to be impartial, but then refused to take even the most basic action to comply with ethical norms by recusing themselves. Chief Justice John Roberts hasn’t seen fit to enforce those norms by taking the rogue justices by the ear and explaining why their behavior is unacceptable, either. And they certainly won’t resign. Therefore, Ocasio-Cortez argued, impeachment is the only option left to Congress, which is still allegedly an equal branch of government…
Yes, of course Ocasio-Cortez knows full well that as long as Republicans hold the House, the effort to bring some accountability to the Court will go nowhere. Hell, that’s half her point: The entire Republican Party is now happy to look away from the sleaziest behavior by its most powerful figures, both elected and not, even those who are officially supposed to be neutral arbiters of the law, as long as it means the GOP gets the political outcomes it wants. By any means necessary, as some guy said long ago.
Oh, right, the other half of her point: No one should be above the law. Even the most powerful judges have to follow the rules, and if they don’t, they must be held accountable if our Constitution is going to work…
There are three articles of impeachment against Thomas; Article I, the lengthiest, covers Thomas’s failure to disclose all of the gifts lavished upon him by billionaire benefactors: the forgiven loan for a luxury RV, all the travel on yachts and private jets, the rent-free home for his mother, the private school tuition for the great nephew Thomas raised as a son — most of which Thomas failed to report as legally required, until after the largesse was revealed by journalists. Thomas failed to recuse himself from any of the cases involving his benefactors’ political groups, too.
The other articles involve Thomas’s failure to recuse himself from cases in which his wife Ginny had interests. Article II specifies her paid work for an outfit founded by the Thomases’ good personal friend, travel arranger, son-educator, and mother-houser Harlan Crow, and also “consulting” income from a group founded by Federalist Society honcho Leonard Leo. Article III focuses on Ginny Thomas’s legal entanglement with the January 6 coup attempt, for which Justice Thomas should have recused himself from all cases related to the foiled insurrection. Just to show how fair-minded she is, AOC didn’t even call for either Thomas to be imprisoned on a barge and tried in Gitmo.
Alito’s impeachment case has just two articles. The first involves his failure to recuse from “cases in which he had a personal bias or appearance of prejudice,” which is also about the January 6 cases. Like the Thomas articles, it notes Alito’s oath of office specifying that he promised to “faithfully and impartially discharge and perform all the duties incumbent upon [him] as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court,” which isn’t especially consistent with hanging up treason flags at your homes in support of the insurrection.
Alito gets his own article of impeachment for failure to disclose gifts from rich donors, specifically that fun Alaska fishing trip that Alito claimed wasn’t unethical because the private jet he rode in would have just flown with an empty seat if he hadn’t gone along, you see. Alito too failed to recuse himself from cases involving the donor, in whose favor he ruled.
And here we are, with the letter from the senators and AOC’s impeachment articles, which may not go anywhere just yet. But both examples still matter, as unambiguous statements that the rule of law still matters, and that one party is willing to stand up and say so.
Bonus corruption, foreign enemy edition…
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas likely entered & exited Russia on an oligarch’s yacht in the Gulf of Finland so his US passport won’t have a record of visiting Russia. The Kremlin would’ve been ABSOLUTELY involved to bypass customs & immigration. Did he have a Russian visa? https://t.co/lK6zlBbc3c pic.twitter.com/eqKSPd3G5X
— Igor Sushko (@igorsushko) July 11, 2024
columbusqueen
You know, every time I think that arrogant bastard can’t go lower, he does. His porn habits were just the tip of the iceberg.
Old School
Good grief! I’ve missed this.
Is there proof Thomas was in Russia without going through Customs?
Nukular Biskits
If Democrats regain control of the US House, impeach.
And if Republicans retain control of the US House, refile those articles and add to them.
japa21
Couldn’t little things like, oh, lying to Congress during their nomination hearings also be included?
bbleh
Thomas has always struck me as a deeply tragic, self-hating figure. And as with others like him, he has become a sinkhole of depravity.
He and Alito don’t care, and I’m starting to think Roberts has decided that it’s smash-and-grab time.
Thanks again, Republicans!
Balconesfault
As I said elsewhere, there’s a lot more circumstantial evidence suggesting that Thomas’s decisions over the last two decades have been significantly influenced by Putin, then that anything Biden has done in office has been influenced in any way by China.
And yet what the Republicans spend huge amounts of time and money focusing on..
Jeffro
Much applause for AOC taking this big, bold (for Dems) step. If the parties were reversed, the GOP would have impeached Liberal Justices 1 and 2 months ago.
(the difference being, of course, we impeach for actual crimes – the GOP impeaches for false equivalence)…but still, way to go AOC!
“Fight GOP Corruption” is a theme that unifies our party, fires up our voters, and helps support the rule of law. We really ought to keep that in mind.
Villago Delenda Est
Of course, the fascists are outraged at this “stunt”, this “performative nonsense”, this “applesauce.”
Just as they’re coming off at jackass investigation of “The Biden Crime Family” and the failed “inherent contempt” motion concerning Merrick Garland.
Miki
Con Law Powers was my first favorite class in law school, because it stripped bare the fantasy of law as divine dispensation. Marbury v Madison is about political power. Full stop.
It’s past time for Congress to push back. AOC is doing precisely that. Bravo!
Jay
@Old School:
Adam does not believe that Igor Suchko is a reliable source.
Keep in mind that Billionaires get treated differently in ruZZia, until they don’t.
Proof of shenanigans would be in ruZZian visa databases, Thomas’s passport from that time, and a non-visa entry would have required either FSB collaberation, or a large bribe to the Border Officer.
Either way, it’s pretty much a given that the FSB has “kompromat” on Thomas,…….. and probably Ginni.
mali muso
I donated to AOC this week for the first time and specifically noted in the comments that it was due to her leadership both in this matter and in standing up for President Biden. More amplification of this utter corruption (treason?) please!
Shalimar
@bbleh: Roberts has always struck me as just as sociopathic and especially racist as the rest of them but concerned about appearances and maintaining legitimacy of his court and legacy. That he no longer seems to care about a blatantly delegitimizing scandal is one of the scariest things about this past SC term.
Jay
Oh, BTW, a “large bribe” in ruZZia is a tiny fraction of what a “large bribe” is, in the West.
Villago Delenda Est
@Shalimar: Citizen’s United destroyed whatever legacy he might have had going, The subsequent abomination rulings to undermine everything the Framers tried to accomplish just add to the dumpster fire.
Old School
@Jay: Thanks!
Mike in NC
Clarence is sure racking up those Frequent Flyer Miles.
A Ghost to Most
Until 67 Senators are willing to convict, it’s just political theater. Haven’t we had enough of that already?
Almost Retired
If you’re not watching the Biden rally on MSNBC, he is killing it.
Jay
@Mike in NC:
You don’t get Frequent Flyer Points on a Billionaire’s Private Jet or a Chartered Cessna flight.
in fact, instead of points that can be used for other flights, luggage fees, merch, etc, you wind up actually owing,
your soul.
Good thing Thomas doesn’t have one.
matt
it’s great politics – that’s what drives me crazy about these ‘procedural genius’ types like Pelosi who don’t understand political messaging – putting the entire GOP on the side of Supreme Court Justices being bought RVs and sent on plane rides to Russia is great politics and might actually affect some Congressional races.
Jackie
Anyone besides me watching Joe’s Michigan rally? The yuuuge crowd loves Joe more than than their congressional representatives!
MOTOWN IS JOETOWN!
matt
@A Ghost to Most: You think the Democrats should do politics without political theater? Maybe you’re part of the messaging problem Democrats have with normal people.
SiubhanDuinne
JFC, is anybody watching Joe in Detroit? Holy shit, he is ON FIRE 🔥
And the crowd fuckin ADORES him! They’re like groupies. It’s beautiful to see.
Jackie
@SiubhanDuinne: It is!!!
WE GOT YOUR BACK!
Almost Retired
@SiubhanDuinne: This is extraordinary. I’m beyond thrilled by this. I will no longer listen to the drop out crowd.
Scout211
@Jackie: @SiubhanDuinne:
Here’s a live feed from Detroit Free Press
SiubhanDuinne
@Almost Retired:
@Jackie:
I am feeling genuinely optimistic and confident* for the first time in 15 days. He has really found his MoJoe!
*But never complacent.
japa21
Love the line “It’s not enough to be against something, you have to be for something.”
WaterGirl
@Almost Retired: Were you actually listening to the drop-out crowd before???
Suzanne
I know the FTFNYT gets a lot of valid criticism here, but can I note that I have special hatred for CNN? They of the 24/7 missing plane dramatics? Anyway, I just navigated to their home page, and the big center story is about Alec Baldwin, and instead of a photo, they have a clip of him breaking down in tears, playing over and over and over. Like, they’re all so gross. Even more than left/right bias —which they have, do not get me wrong — but overwhelmingly, they are sensationalistic and full of histrionics and their constant need for dramatics is fucken offensive.
ETA: Mr. Suzanne and I think that Wolf Blitzer has an IQ of roughly 70.
moonbat
@Jackie: The crowd was chanting “Don’t you quit!” before he could even get up to the podium.
TBone
Hahahahaha Clarence, the jig is up! Glad I checked back in here, had no idea that there is even more evidence of Russian fuckery.
Putin’s puppets just can’t dance fast enough. We ride at dawn!
japa21
@Suzanne: That’s generous.
Eyeroller
@SiubhanDuinne: Fucking narrative:
“he desperately tries to reinvigorate a campaign and ward off some calls in his party for him to abandon the Democratic nomination in the wake of a disastrous debate performance two weeks ago.”
He’s slurring and skipping a bit but nothing unusual for somebody with a fluency disorder.
IT WAS NOT DISASTROUS it was just kinda bad. HOLY CHRIST I DON’T BELIEVE IT.
SiubhanDuinne
@moonbat:
And the AME pastor who introduced him in verse? She was incredible!
SiubhanDuinne
@Suzanne:
Good grief, is Wolf Blitzer still alive? I had no idea.
MagdaInBlack
@WaterGirl: Even when we ignore them, they do plant seeds of doubt, which is, of course, their purpose
Eta: seeing rallies like this just make me more sure, to be honest.😊
JoeyJoeJoe
@Suzanne: I recall seeing Blitzer on celebrity jeopardy. He was awful
SiubhanDuinne
@Eyeroller:
I got as far as the FTFNYT and WaPo headlines and noped right on out of there. Our media are beyond useless — they are malicious.
Suzanne
@japa21: I remember one time a few years ago, SuzMom was watching CNN, and I heard “breaking news!”…… so I snarked, “what? The only thing CNN thinks is news is a plane crash”. and…. It was a plane crash.
It’s the fucken National Enquirer with slightly more attractive people.
Jackie
@Almost Retired: @SiubhanDuinne:
This is the Joe we know and love. He’s always done best when he’s underestimated and written off. I hope all those crybaby DEMOCRATIC “representatives (of who?) come crawling back to Joe. He won’t shame them; he’ll welcome them back with hugs, then drop the issue.
Because that’s who he is.
Eyeroller
@SiubhanDuinne: Cancelled NYT already, cancelling WaPo tomorrow.
moonbat
@SiubhanDuinne: It was great. The whole thing. I about started crying in several parts.
After all the manufactured bullshit this good man has had to put up with over the last couple of weeks, it’s great to see such enthusiastic, vocal support from the public. We got his back.
NotMax
Hands up those who didn’t see this coming.
Many fake electors welcomed as delegates at Republican convention
matt
Maybe Joe can gain with regular people by running against this cabal of elite donors, political consultants and media whores who are calling him to step down.
zhena gogolia
@columbusqueen: Long Dong Silver, anyone? (showing my age?)
zhena gogolia
@Suzanne: Haven’t watched them in ages. They are horrible.
zhena gogolia
@SiubhanDuinne: Somebody posted a clip here this morning, and there he was, looking like a sheep at a new fence (Russian saying). Deer in the headlights? Dog being shown a card trick?
TBone
Had a wonderful day off. Being confident in our President pays dividends. He can handle his job while those who need to unwind do theirs.
cain
@Eyeroller: I’d like to cancel the Democratic rich donors. Fucking assholes. They think they can swap out Joe for someone else by withholding funds.
Peke Daddy
@A Ghost to Most: Oh, not nearly enough. The entire exercise is about creating a resonance point around the very real ethical violations here. Keep on message about the seriousness of them. Raise awareness, get people talking. “Butter emails” and Bengazi was treated by the GOP just this way until people were convinced something was there. This happens to have the extra advantage of documented proof, and actual ethical malfeasance. Theater is framing, theater is metaphor.
kalakal
@zhena gogolia:
Stunned mullet* is popular in northern
England
*or other fish
Geminid
@NotMax: Speaking of convention delegates, Tom Wilson (@tomwilson) linked to a Connecticut Post article featuring local reactions to Connecticutt Rep. Jim Hines’ call for Joe Biden to step aside. One was from the district’s sole Democratic Convention Delegate; she’s sticking with Biden.
It was kind of funny. Reading between the lines, she basically said that Himes is an idiot from Fairfield and people in Bridgeport were smarter than that.
Miki
@WaterGirl: I love you, WG, but please don’t bang on folks for trying to understand/adjust to what we see.
I’m not sure but I think it was Suzanne who commented we all bring our own stuff to what we see and it takes some of us time to see through the shit. As it should.
I’m POA for my 72 yr old sister who had a stroke in 2016 and has the same verbal paraphasia as Biden. It’s not dementia but it’s disorienting and legitimately worrying for folks that don’t know about it.
Shaming folks for trying to understand it isn’t helpful.
Soprano2
@Eyeroller: I’m at the point that I don’t think this is about the debate anymore.
Odie Hugh Manatee
Time to primary her. Clearly she’s not interested in real justice!
/jk!!!
Princess
I don’t think Sushko is a reliable source in any respect and shouldn’t be quoted on this blog as an authority. Sheer greed explains Thomas – we don’t need to invoke Putin. If the experienced Russia watchers on this blog say Sushko is okay, I’ll stand corrected but I believe Adam doesn’t think much of him, for instance.
ETA I see Jay already made this point.
TBone
@Peke Daddy: bingo!
Odie Hugh Manatee
@Soprano2:
It’s not. I hope more people start to understand that. This was planned for October but the debate made them bold and launch their October Surprise now.
It’s not stopping because they are on a mission to stop him.
eclare
@Almost Retired:
I saw some of it, he looked great, voice booming!
Ishiyama
“Great praise to G-d, and little Laud to the Devil.”
TBone
@Princess: I’ll take “what are further ethics and disclosure violations” for a hunnert, Alex.
Looks like documentary evidence to me unless the document is faked.
LanceThruster
If she and the squad had just followed through on their promise to Force the Vote regarding Medicare for All. How you say? Sure, that was just a means to do an on the record head count regarding support. But that was beyond the pale for Dem leadership, claimed it risked Pelosi’s speakership to the GOP (their speaker battle showed how to leverage that power and also what a BS assertion that was), and doing so might give the electorate hope that they could influence Congress and therefore nipped in the bud with extreme prejudice. Nip it, nip it, nip it.
After my own ban several years ago (details upon request), I’d still pop in now and then to see what was on the menu but mostly for reading material linked or shared. Every once in a while some great stuff, unrelated to politics more often than not. The political stuff was usually pedestrian, “safe” (from their view), and largely meant to validate the status quo. Don’t recall a single share from that category but I might have. Just don’t recall any. Much of the stuff I shared was to promote a discussion of the author’s point. Even when having a much different view, I saw value in sparring with those with a different take, but on the whole at least could make a reasonably compelling argument for holding it and there’s more than a few genuine big hitters here (the downside being a smartest people in the room vibe no matter what. A “we wouldn’t hold a view not the right one”). That’s being put to the test as we speak.
I don’t think there’s a voter alive who doesn’t think that if everyone else just calculated things through the same lens, they’d reach the same conclusion. Yeah, join the club. But advocate too passionately, too late in the debate, or as I often felt, landing punch too solid, you might as well have been sharing Newsmax and got gang tackled. Even when I ventured into a right wing read on my own, I usually bailed right away as whatever factual kernel was their premise, it was soon buried in a mountain of bullshit. I still read lots of stuff that others dismissed as what they’d expect from my own confirmation bias, but their beef seemed more over the conclusions rather than disputing the facts. Feel that still holds up. Any “told you so’s” still had confirmation bias as part of the dismissal, but there are many actual confirmations in evidence. In contrast I see special pleading, hopium, and it’s too late to turn back now. I’m thinking my early thinking as the dam started to show signs of pending catastrophic failure will tesult in switching jockeys on the party machine. Whether you agree fully with the rationale in play nationwide from the people to the party leadership in halls of power, I’m certain it’s going to happen. Bernie the Attorney read the entrails by looking at who was defecting, when they chose to weigh in, and options available. He’d looked at this and see the decision from on high has already been made. Joe may think he can hold out, but the heat hasn’t been turned up that high yet. He’s still being allowed an opportunity to fall on his sword. At no point will evading the inevitable result in the swap them out decision to be reversed. It will just weaken its potential to succeed. I don’t think I’m wrong here, but if he goes all the way with the election, I think it will stop short of all the way back to the oval office. Time will tell. It’s going to be a completely different world next year. Glob help us.
Geminid
@Soprano2: One factor that may be at play now is pride. Media and political figures stampeded after the debate and they don’t want to admit how foolish they were, so they’re digging in.
But they’re like cats who get stuck in trees; they’ll come down eventually.
eclare
@Geminid:
I saw a clip of Himes after the presser, and he said calls to his office were 80% in favor of Joe dropping out. No follow up question, of course, but I really wonder about that number. It’s hard to get 80% of any group to agree on something other than puppies and ice cream are good.
Jackie
@Geminid:
😂 Purrfect metaphor!
NotMax
@eclare
eclare
@NotMax:
Oh that’s bad!
Princess
@TBone: I mean, he fakes evidence all the time.
Palooza
Ugh, no. AOC engaging in a meaningless exercise to go after Alito and Thomas 4 months before an election, is NOT an example of good politics. It sucks. To little, too late. The Dems at this point are just cowards. Everything is on the line, and these meaningless gestures are applauded. FML. Biden should have stacked the court. Obama should have appointed Garland during recess. The GOP will use any rule to their advantage and don’t GAF about norms. The Dems have to do the same. What’s the downside? The cowardice and fear, why, to avoid offending anybody, has led to what, the complete dominance by the GOP minority? This collective of jackals needs to start truly acting like them, not this BS rah, rah, rah. It’s weak.
MobiusKlein
@A Ghost to Most: It’s the right thing to do, even if you get 50 senators. ITMFA!
Bill Arnold
@Jay:
OTOH, any Russian statements and/or provided “evidence” on the matter would have essentially zero information value.
Eyeroller
@Miki: Sorry about your sister, but Joe never had a stroke. He has a lifelong fluency disorder. I don’t know how connected that might be to damage in a particular part of the brain, but fluency disorders (mostly stuttering) start in childhood, so they aren’t brain damage per se.
But it’s true that people leap to the “dementia” diagnosis when they are confronted with this type of thing and that’s ableist. It is not at all like dementia.
And the “drop out crowd” were not taking any of this into account and were extremely ableist.
Bill Arnold
@eclare:
80%, in the USA, means it’s at least in part organized. Might be multiple organizers; e.g. it’s possible that right wing activist groups are flash-mobbing.
Interesting.
Miki
@Eyeroller: That’s kind of my point. I have nothing that tells me Biden has had a stroke. But I recognize the disability and it doesn’t tell me shit about shinola. Trump has a similar thing going on and folks here are more than willing to blame it on dementia.
I’m going to turn 69 on Monday and it kind of freaks me out. I’m well aware of things breaking down. And it takes me a good while to understand that aging isn’t immediate death. It’s a process that moves itself forward on its own timetable.
FWIW, that’s what I’ve been trying to understand since the debate. What’s the context, what’s the relevance. None of us have ever been here before.
I’m riding with Biden because he really has been that good, he’s still being that good, and there’s no other choice that has a rat’s chance in hell to win in November.
Bill Arnold
@LanceThruster:
I disagree with you a lot, but we agree that one of the very good things about this site is the plethora of links. Interesting links are life; they give places like this more reach, or as certain sorts might say, “wings”.
Jay
@Bill Arnold:
A big issue in ruZZia, is you can buy pretty much buy anything, or hack pretty much anything, in ruZZian databases. It has been a big help to the GUR and Bellingcat, amongst others.
Bellingcat ID’s over a dozen ruZZian SVU “wetwork” teams because the SVO was dumb enough to issue “fake” passports in sequenseial number blocks, then tagged the passport addresses back to SVO offices.