Ocasio-Cortez says Thomas’ statement raises ‘more serious questions’

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said Sunday that Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’ statement regarding his relationship with Republican megadonor Harlan Crow “contradicts many of the facts on the ground and also raises in other ways, even more serious questions.”

On CNN’s “State of the Union,” she pointed to the fact that Thomas acknowledged his friendship with Crow has been 25 years-long but Thomas has been a justice for more than 30 years.

“What he is admitting in his statement in an attempt to defend himself is that he began this relationship with a billionaire and receiving these sorts of gifts as after he was appointed to the Supreme Court of the United States,” the New York Democrat said on Sunday.

Thomas issued his statement Friday after ProPublica reported that Crow had paid for multiple trips for the justice and his wife, which included the use of Crow’s yacht, private jet and Adirondacks resort, among other gifts. ProPublica estimated the cost of one vacation as more than $500,000.

New regulations were put into place on March 14 by a Judicial Conference committee to require Supreme Court justices and federal judges to disclose complimentary trips and any other such gifts. In his statement, Thomas promised to follow those restrictions moving forward.

The news sparked outrage among Ocasio-Cortez and many of her Democratic colleagues. She has already called for Thomas’ impeachment and on Sunday said the justice’s actions indicate other consequences for the court.

“I do believe that Chief Justice John Roberts must now come forward and state if he allows, and is allowing this kind of very serious corruption to happen on this court,” she said. “I know that there are calls for Chief Justice Roberts to initiate an investigation. I do not think that this Court any longer has any legitimacy, especially after the Supreme Court leak last year."

Ocasio-Cortez claimed that it’s the House’ responsibility to oversee an investigation. When asked by CNN’s Dana Bash how a Republican-controlled House would accomplish that, Ocasio-Cortez said: “I admit it is, it is very difficult to see a path in a Republican Party that refuses to hold itself accountable, and in fact, breaches the law itself” — referencing former President Donald Trump’s indictment.

“If it is Republicans that decide to protect those who are breaking the law, then they are the ones who then are responsible for that decision, but we should not be complicit in that,” she said.

Crow, a real-estate developer from Texas, is a director at the conservative American Enterprise Institute and serves on the boards of the American Enterprise Institute, George W. Bush Foundation, and the Supreme Court Historical Society, Reuters reported. He helped found Club for Growth, an influential anti-tax group.