Watchdog group urges Clarence Thomas to resign for 'extreme misconduct' and 'repeated ethical failings'

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-New York) is among the progressive Democrats who has been calling for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas to be impeached. That is unlikely to happen, as Republicans have a small single-digit majority in the U.S. House of Representatives. And even if Thomas were impeached in the House, he would need to be convicted in a U.S. Senate trial in order to be removed from the High Court.

The House impeached former President Donald Trump twice when Democrats still had a majority in that chamber; both times, he was acquitted in the U.S. Senate.

But for Democrats who consider Thomas' actions impeachable, there is a lot of evidence — including a series of damning reports by ProPublica on the justice's relationship with billionaire GOP donor Harlan Crow. AOC has also been highly critical of Thomas' wife, Ginni Thomas, a far-right Republican activist who tried to help overturn the 2020 presidential election results and falsely claimed that the election was stolen from Trump.

READ MORE: 'Comedic level of corruption': Clarence Thomas’s relationship with Harlan Crow based on 'cozying up'

Now, the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) is calling for Justice Thomas' resignation.

In an open letter to the justice on May 9, CREW President Noah Bookbinder lamented, "This is not something we do lightly. This is a place we never wanted to be, but it has become clear that Justice Thomas likely violated civil and criminal laws and has created the impression that access to and influence over Supreme Court justices is for sale. A trusted Supreme Court is crucial to democracy, and Justice Thomas' repeated ethical failings risk irreparably damaging the public's trust in the Court."

ProPublica reported that for more than 20 years, Crow has been treating Justice Thomas to luxury vacations — and that Thomas hasn't been reporting them. Nor did Thomas, according to ProPublica, report that Crow bought property from him in Georgia and paid his grandnephew's tuition in a private school.

Bookbinder argued that the High Court is facing a "grave crisis of institutional legitimacy" and that Thomas' "extreme misconduct" is part of the problem.

READ MORE: Billionaire Harlan Crow bought property from Clarence Thomas and the Justice didn’t disclose the deal

The CREW president wrote, "For the sake of the Court and for the sake of our democracy which depends on a judiciary that the public accepts as legitimate and free from corruption, we urge you to resign. Your conduct has likely violated civil and criminal laws and has created the impression that access to and influence over Supreme Court justices is for sale."

READ MORE: How Clarence Thomas' judicial record undermines his defense in Harlan Crow scandal