(PartiallyPolitics.com) – Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., who belongs to the “Squad” is calling for the Department of Justice to look into the relationship between Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and Republican mega donor Harlan Crow from whom he financially benefited over the past few decades.
In a letter sent to the Attorney General on Friday, five progressive Democrats, including Ocasio-Cortez, stated that the Justice Department should launch a probe into Thomas over his consistent failure to report the financial benefits and gifts he had received from several Republican billionaires including Crow in the last two decades.
In the letter, they argue that Thomas had repeatedly claimed that his financial disclosures over the past few years have been “accurate” and “complete.” However, current evidence suggests that for the past two decades, he had failed to disclose a number of gifts that he received from Crow. As they pointed out this failure to properly disclose his finances could lead to him incurring criminal and civil sanctions.
The revelations about the gifts that Thomas had received from Crow were first made public in a ProPublica report in April. According to the report Thomas has received luxury vacations using private jets, and yachts and staying on Crow’s vacation property. He had also benefited from real estate and other financial deals. However, despite his close connection to Crow, he had not recused himself from any cases that could have potentially been considered to have a conflict of interest in cases involving the wealthy individuals he had received gifts from.
Thomas has defended his decision to not disclose the trips, claiming that these trips fall under the category of personal hospitality from a friend and do not need to be disclosed according to the Supreme Court guidance.
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