AOC says 'impeachment should be on the table' for Clarence Thomas

Impeachment should be "on the table" for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) wrote in a Twitter thread Tuesday.
Justice Thomas has come under scrutiny after the publication of text messages his wife — conservative activist Virginia "Ginni" Thomas — exchanged with then-White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows as Meadows worked with then-President Donald Trump to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
New York University law professor Stephen Gillers told The New York Times that, in light of Ginni Thomas' activities, it would be inappropriate for Justice Thomas to rule on cases related to the 2020 election and the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
When the Supreme Court ruled in January that former President Donald Trump could not block White House records from being sent to the Jan. 6 committee, Thomas was the only justice to dissent.
Ocasio-Cortez began her thread by discussing the House's decision to impeach Trump in 2019 for withholding aid to Ukraine, a decision she claimed many Democrats dismissed as a "stunt."
"Often what seems like the righteous yet politically foolish thing short term ends up being the wisest choice long term," she wrote.
Ocasio-Cortez then applied this lesson to the Clarence Thomas situation. "Subpoenas, investigations, and impeachment should absolutely be on the table. We shouldn't have to think twice about that," she wrote. "We must go where the facts take us. A failure to act puts the imperiling of democracy squarely on *our* shoulders. It's our duty to defend it."
Only one Supreme Court justice has ever been impeached. Associate Justice Samuel Chase was impeached by the House in 1805 but was acquitted by the Senate. In 1970, then-House Minority Leader Gerald Ford called unsuccessfully for the impeachment of Justice William O. Douglas, The Washington Post reported Tuesday.
Nearly two dozen other lawmakers are also demanding that Thomas recuse himself from 2020 election-related cases, Bloomberg reports.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Grayson Quay was the weekend editor at TheWeek.com. His writing has also been published in National Review, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Modern Age, The American Conservative, The Spectator World, and other outlets. Grayson earned his M.A. from Georgetown University in 2019.
-
July 19 editorial cartoons
Cartoons Saturday’s political cartoons include a Medicaid time bomb, and Donald Trump's fixation with the Fed's Jerome Powell
-
5 hilariously cutting cartoons about the Department of Education
Cartoons Artists take on being rotten to the core, budget cuts, and more
-
Kartoffelsalat (potato salad) recipe
The Week Recommends German dish is fresh, creamy and an ideal summer meal
-
President diagnosed with 'chronic venous insufficiency'
Speed Read The vein disorder has given Trump swollen ankles and visible bruising on his hands
-
'Bawdy' Trump letter supercharges Epstein scandal
Speed Read The Wall Street Journal published details of Trump's alleged birthday letter to Epstein
-
Fed chair Powell in Trump's firing line
Speed Read The president considers removing Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell
-
Trump trashes supporters over Epstein files
speed read The president lashed out on social media following criticism of his administration's Jeffrey Epstein investigation
-
Judge nixes wiping medical debt from credit checks
Speed Read Medical debt can now be included in credit reports
-
Grijalva wins Democratic special primary for Arizona
Speed Read She will go up against Republican nominee Daniel Butierez to fill the US House seat her father held until his death earlier this year
-
US inflation jumps as Trump tariffs 'bite'
Speed Read Consumer prices are climbing and the inflation rate rose to its highest level in four months
-
SCOTUS greenlights mass DOE firings
Speed Read The Supreme Court will allow the Trump administration to further shrink the Education Department