Clarence Thomas must be impeached over revelations of megadonor gifts, says AOC – live | US politics

New York congresswoman Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez has called for conservative supreme court justice Clarence Thomas’s impeachment.

AOC’s calls follow reports that Thomas failed to disclose luxury gifts that he accepted from Republican billionaire, Harlan Crow, a megadonor to conservative organizations.

“This is beyond party or partisanship. This degree of corruption is shocking – almost cartoonish. Thomas must be impeached,” she tweeted.

“Barring some dramatic change, this is what the Roberts court will be known for: rank corruption, erosion of democracy, and the stripping of human rights,” she added, referring to chief conservative justice John Roberts.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr, a anti-vaccine activist and Democrat has filed a statement of candidacy with the Federal Election Commission.

The 69-year old son of Robert F. Kennedy and nephew of John F. Kennedy, will be challenging president Joe Biden as a Democrat.

Kennedy has a history of spreading myths surrounding vaccines and has had his activism work be described as misleading and dangerous by public health experts and even members of his own famous family.

In 2021, Kennedy’s sister, Kerry Kennedy, told the Associated Press that her brother is “completely wrong on this issue and very dangerous.”

In 2020, the revenues of Kennedy’s anti-vaccine charity, Children’s Health Defense, doubled to $6.8 million, the Associated Press reports.

Kennedy has advocated for unproven Covid-19 treatments including the anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine that was championed by former president Donald Trump, as well as the parasitic drug ivermectin.

For over twenty years, Clarence Thomas has accepted multiple luxury trips from Harlan Crow, a Republican real estate developer and megadonor, according to a new ProPublica investigation.

The report found that the conservative justice frequently travels internationally on Crow’s luxury 162ft yacht, often wearing custom polo shirts gifted by Crow to commemorate the trips which included scuba diving in Indonesia and a cruise in New Zealand.

Thomas also flies on Crow’s Bombardier Global 5000 jet. At one point, Thomas even used the plane for a three-hour trip from Dallas to Dulles to New Haven, Connecticut before flying back on the same day on February 11, 2016. ProPublica found no reports of Thomas making any public appearances on that day.

Thomas has also visited the Bohemian Grove, an exclusive all-male retreat in California with the Texas businessman.

The justice also frequently visits Crow’s private resort in the Adirondacks known as Camp Topridge. In addition to being served by private chefs, Thomas has mingled with top Republican executives at these retreats. In July 2017, Thomas was accompanied by “major Republican donors and one of the leaders of the American Enterprise Institute, a pro-business conservative think tank,” the investigation found.

Despite accepting these luxury trips for over two decades, Thomas has not listed them on his financial disclosures, according to the report.

Crow and his wife denied wielding any political influence over Thomas via these luxury trip offerings.

“The hospitality we have extended to the Thomas’s over the years is no different from the hospitality we have extended to our many other dear friends… We have never asked about a pending or lower court case, and Justice Thomas has never discussed one, and we have never sought to influence Justice Thomas on any legal or political issue,” Crow said.

ProPublica found that Crow has donated over $10m in publicly disclosed political contributions. He has also donated to groups that conceal their donors and once said, “I don’t disclose what I’m not required to disclose.”

Despite Crow’s denials, ethics experts have criticized Thomas’ lack of transparency surrounding the disclosure of these luxury offerings.

“When a justice’s lifestyle is being subsidized by the rich and famous, it absolutely corrodes public trust,” Virginia Canter, the chief ethics counsel of the watchdog group CREW, told ProPublica.

Good morning US politics readers. A new investigation by ProPublica has found that conservative supreme court justice Clarence Thomas accepted multiple luxury trips from Harlan Crow, a Republican real estate developer and megadonor.

For over twenty years, Thomas has “accepted luxury trips virtually every year” from Crow without disclosing them, the report found. In addition to taking trips to Indonesia and New Zealand on Crow’s superyacht, Thomas regularly flies on the Texas businessman’s Bombardier Global 5000 jet and spends a week every summer at Crow’s private Adirondacks resort.

According to ethics law experts interviewed by ProPublica, the absence of these luxury trips on Thomas’ financial disclosures appears to violate a law that requires justices to disclose most gifts they receive.

Crow pushed back against the findings and denied wielding any political influence through these luxury trip offerings.

“My wife Kathy and I … have never asked about a pending or lower court case, and Justice Thomas has never discussed one, and we have never sought to influence Justice Thomas on any legal or political issue,” he said.

In its investigation, ProPublica found that Crow has donated over $10m in publicly disclosed political contributions. He has also donated to groups that conceal their donors and once said, “I don’t disclose what I’m not required to disclose.”

As we bring you the latest on today’s US politics, here are other key developments today:

• Rightwing legal activist Leonard Leo has been accused of misusing $73m from nonprofit groups and may be funneling the money illegally into his businesses.

• Anti-vaccine activist and Democrat Robert F Kennedy Jr is running for president against Joe Biden, joining self-help author Marianne Williamson, who declared her candidacy last month.