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“Squad” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and multiple progressive allies unveiled articles of impeachment against Supreme Court Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas on Wednesday.

Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), 34, lambasted the two conservative justices over their “pattern of refusal to recuse” themselves from key cases and “failure to disclose” certain gifts.

“These failures alone would amount to a deep transgression worthy of standard removal in any lower court, and would disqualify any nominee to the highest court from confirmation in the first place,” she said in a statement.

“Given the court’s demonstrated inability to preserve its own legitimate conduct, it is incumbent upon Congress to contain the threat this poses to our democracy,” she went on. “Congress has a legal, moral, and democratic obligation to impeach.”


  Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has introduced articles of impeachment against two conservative Supreme Court justices. Ron Sachs – CNP for NY Post Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has introduced articles of impeachment against two conservative Supreme Court justices. Ron Sachs – CNP for NY Post

Reps Barbara Lee of California, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, Bonnie Watson Coleman of New Jersey, Delia Ramirez of Illinois, Maxwell Frost of Florida, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Jamaal Bowman of New York, and Jasmine Crockett of Texas co-sponsored the articles of impeachment.

The impeachment resolution against Thomas includes articles for failure to disclose gifts, refusal to recuse himself from matters relevant to his spouse’s “legal interest,” and refusal to recuse himself from matters relevant to his spouse’s “financial interest.

Meanwhile, the resolution against Alito includes two articles, one for refusal to recuse himself on a case where he had a “personal bias or prejudice” and a second for failure to disclose gifts.

Only one US Supreme Court justice has ever been impeached — Samuel Chase in 1805 — but he was acquitted in the Senate. Impeachment requires a simple majority in the House and a two-thirds vote in the Senate for convictions.

Democrats currently have neither.


  Multiple Democrats have accused Thomas (above) and Alito of ethical lapses. REUTERS Multiple Democrats have accused Thomas (above) and Alito of ethical lapses. REUTERS

Activists had sought to get Alito and Thomas to recuse themselves from former President Donald Trump’s presidential immunity case. Thomas’ wife, Virginia “Ginni,” promoted “Stop the Steal” content via social media and texted former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows to “Help This Great President stand firm” after his election loss.

Last year, Thomas did recuse himself from a matter concerning former Trump legal adviser John Eastman.

Thomas’ ties to GOP mega-donor Harlan Crow have come under fire from Democrats amid revelations from ProPublica about a slew of undisclosed flights and vacations he received.


  To remove an official through impeachment, the House must vote to impeach and the Senate then must vote to convict. REUTERS To remove an official through impeachment, the House must vote to impeach and the Senate then must vote to convict. REUTERS

Ocasio-Cortez’s impeachment gambit marks the Democrats’ latest escalation against the conservative-majority Supreme Court amid their frustrations over key decisions such as the high court concluding that presidents enjoy absolute immunity for official acts.

Earlier this month, Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) requested Attorney General Merrick Garland appoint a special counsel to investigate Thomas. Garland was once a nominee for the high court, but never received a vote.

Last month, Ocasio-Cortez and House Oversight Committee ranking member Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) penned a letter to Chief Justice John Roberts asking him to outline steps the high court would take to “investigate allegations of serious ethical misconduct” by justices on the high court.

Back in May, Roberts also spurned a request from Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) to discuss Supreme Court ethics. Last year, he turned down a request to testify.

There are separation of powers concerns at play as well. Last year, Alito told the Wall Street Journal that in his opinion, “No provision in the Constitution gives them the authority to regulate the Supreme Court.”

Against the backdrop of pressure from Democrats, the Supreme Court published a code of conduct for justices last November. 

The Post contacted a Supreme Court spokesperson for comment. 

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