Congressman Hank Johnson renews call for Justice Thomas to resign after latest ProPublica bombshell

ATLANTA, GA – In the aftermath of yet another ProPublica report showing billionaire Republican megadonor Harlan Crow showered Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas with even more lavish gifts – this time that he paid private school tuition for a Thomas relative – Congressman Hank Johnson (GA-04), the ranking member of the Judiciary Subcommittee that oversees the courts, issued the following statement:

“Five years after Clarence Thomas became a Supreme Court Justice, he inappropriately accepted a free ride on Harlan Crow’s corporate jet, and thus began a 26-year odyssey of “dear” friendship as Justice Thomas’ judicial opinions came to mirror the social and business interests of Crow, while Crow bestowed lavish and unreported “gifts” upon Justice Thomas and his family members. This so-called “friendship” smacks of impropriety and illegality, with each new revelation about Justice Thomas’ conflict of interest further debasing the Court in the eyes of the public. If Justice Thomas retained even a shred of integrity, he would resign immediately and thus save the Court from further shame and disgrace. And if the remaining justices cared at all about how the SCOTUS is perceived by the public, they would immediately adopt and hold themselves accountable to the Code of Conduct for United States Judges. Otherwise, Congress has no choice but to do it for them.”