Senator Chris Murphy accused the Supreme Court of being “blatantly corrupt and blatantly political” after reports revealed that Justice Clarence Thomas had received undisclosed lavish gifts and trips from conservative benefactors and that Justice Samuel Alito had “publicly flaunted his involvement in political campaigns.”
“I think there is a crisis on the court, particularly with regard to Justices Alito and Thomas,” the Connecticut Democrat said during a legislative session on Sunday. Trade Union Status CNN reported, “What Justice Thomas is doing is simply fraud. He is hiring powerful outside politicians with an enormous vested interest in the politics and business of the court to buy off the justices. Justice Alito has openly demonstrated his involvement in political campaigns in public.”
Murphy also defended Biden’s recent criticism of the Supreme Court, saying, “I think it’s irresponsible for the president not to speak about the fact that this Supreme Court has become blatantly corrupt and blatantly politicized. And it’s up to the American people in this election to do something about it. And it’s also up to Congress to act and pass a code of conduct, a code of ethics, for this Supreme Court before it’s too late.”
Justice Thomas failed to disclose gifts from right-wing activists, including Nazi-obsessed billionaire and Republican megadonor Harlan Crow, who treated Justice Thomas to trips on private jets and luxury yachts, expensive vacations, tuition payments for his grandchildren and real estate purchases. The unreported gifts were first uncovered by ProPublica, which won a Pulitzer Prize for its reporting on the justices’ financial records.
Justice Alito was reported to have recently flown a conservative political flag at his New Jersey vacation home, similar to those displayed by many of the January 6th rioters, and an upside-down American flag at his Fairfax County, Virginia, home — a traditional sign of distress recently espoused by Trump supporters and white supremacists after the 2020 election. Justice Alito blamed his wife for the flag being flown on his property, and he recently refused to recuse himself from January 6th-related litigation after 40 House Democrats sent him a letter urging him to recuse himself from January 6th-related litigation.
Both justices have recently complained about reporting on a Supreme Court ethics scandal, with Justice Alito specifically calling out ProPublica for an exclusive recording by liberal documentary maker Lauren Windsor. Rolling Stone“The reporters don’t like our decision,” he said.
“These attacks are being spearheaded by groups that are heavily funded by ideological groups,” Alito said in the recording. “And that’s the way it is.”
Alito told Windsor that America needs to “restore our country to its sanctity,” adding that “someone is going to win.”
Rolling Stone The paper also reported that during a conversation with Windsor, the justice’s wife, Martha Ann Alito, complained about liberals, the media, and seeing pride flags in her neighborhood. She fantasized about taking revenge by flying various flags, including one with the Italian word for “shame” inscribed on it.
“He says, ‘Oh, don’t put up the flag,'” Alito told Windsor of her conversation with her husband. “I said, ‘I’m not going to put up the flag because I’m following you, but when you get over this nonsense, I’m going to put up the flag and I’m going to send them a message every day, maybe every week, and I’m going to change the flag.’ There are all kinds of flags. I made a flag in my head. This is what makes me happy. I made a flag. It’s white with yellow and orange flames around it. It says ‘vergogna’ in the middle. ‘Vergogna’ means shame in Italian. vergogna. VERGOGNA. Vergogna.”
Some Democrats have also called for oversight of the Supreme Court. “We want to ban $50 gifts to Supreme Court justices,” Rep. Jamie Raskin said last week. “These people make $300,000 a year. They should pay for their own lunches and vacations.”
