[guest post by Dana]

While the drama continues about whether President Biden will step down or press on in the presidential race, I thought I’d post about something not directly related to the presidential race.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez filed articles of impeachment against Supreme Court Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas today.

Regarding Justice Thomas, AOC argued:

“His conduct has caused a reasonable person to believe the gifts were offered and accepted in return for being influenced in the performance of an official act and from the same or different sources on a basis so frequent that a reasonable person would believe that he used his public office for his own private gain or for the private gain of his donors.”

Ocasio-Cortez contended that impeachment against Thomas was further warranted because he refused to recuse himself from election-related cases despite reports that his wife, Ginni, was involved in efforts by former President Donald Trump to overturn the results of the 2020 election. She argued that the justice had a legal obligation under federal law to step back from such litigation

Regarding Justice Alito, AOC pointed out that:

. . . the justice also declined to recuse himself from election-related cases after reports emerged that symbols of the “Stop the Steal” movement and Christian nationalism were displayed at two of his residences following the Capitol riot.

“Justice Samuel Alito, Jr., has engaged in a pattern of conduct that is incompatible with the trust and confidence placed in him as a justice of the Supreme Court,” the New York Democrat said, “by failing to disqualify himself from cases in which he had a personal bias or prejudice concerning a party.

Seeming to realize that this will likely go nowhere, AOC said that she did it because it was the right thing to do and that the justices’ behavior is “fundamentally incompatible” with service on the Supreme Court.

—Dana