The Campaign Legal Center (CLC) has written to a committee of federal judges with the authority to refer Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas to the DOJ for criminal investigation.
The CLC wrote to the Judicial Conference:
Campaign Legal Center respectfully requests that the Judicial Conference exercise its authority pursuant to 5 U.S.C. § 13106(b) and refer Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas to the U.S. Attorney General because there is “reasonable cause to believe” that he “willfully failed to file information required to be reported” under the Ethics in GovernmentAct (“EIGA”).
Specifically, Justice Thomas’ public statement on April 7, 2023, and recent news reporting, confirm that for over twenty years he did not file required gift disclosures of private plane and yacht travel from one individual. There is reasonable cause to believe that the omissions were willful because Justice Thomas (1) previously reported private plane travel from the same individual in compliance with the law, but stopped the disclosures after negative media attention; and (2) has a history of omitting significant information from his financial disclosure reports.
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The Ethics In Government Act reporting limit is $415. Any gift or reimbursement that is over $415 is legally required to be reported. Justice Thomas took gifts from a Republican donor worth over a thousand times the legal limit.
As the CLC notes, once Thomas got caught by the press, he stopped filing the disclosure forms.
If the United States is to be indeed a nation where no one is above the law, this standard must apply as equally to Justice Thomas as it is being applied to former President Donald Trump.
The actions and the statement made by Justice Thomas since his financial arrangement with a Republican donor was exposed do not suggest that the Supreme Court Justice acted in error. Instead of showing remorse, Thomas has attempted to justify his actions.
It appears that Clarence Thomas believes that he is above the law, which is why he must be held accountable.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
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Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association