AOC and Raskin intensify their campaign on the Supreme Court, presenting new demands to Chief Justice Roberts

Reps. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) are asking Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts what steps he is taking to address ethical concerns related to Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas.

Raskin and Ocasio-Cortez asked Roberts how he is addressing a series of ethical allegations concerning Alito and Thomas involving undisclosed gifts and alleged political symbols and statements. The letter represents the latest in a series of aggressive moves by Democrats to apply pressure to the court.

“We write with alarm about the deepening ethics crisis at the Supreme Court of the United States, which is turning into a full-blown legitimacy crisis,” Raskin and Ocasio-Cortez wrote in the letter. “You have repeatedly asked Congress and the American people to trust Justices of the Supreme Court to police their own conduct, assuring us that ‘[e]very Justice seeks to follow high ethical standards … and is committed to the common interest in preserving the Court’s vital role as an impartial tribunal governed by the rule of law.’”

“Yet, over the past year, revelations by investigative reporters and Senate investigators have established that certain Justices have abused that trust,” the letter continued.

Alito has been accused of promoting political messages that could conflict with cases before the court this term. The justice’s wife flew an upside-down American flag outside the couple’s home in Virginia after getting into an argument with a neighbor, and an “Appeal to Heaven” flag was seen flying in front of their vacation home.

Democrats have argued the two flags suggested the Alitos were showing solidarity with rioters who flew both flags at the Jan. 6, 2021, riot.

The upside-down American flag was also used during Black Lives Matter protests in the fallout from the murder of George Floyd in 2020, and San Francisco had flown an “Appeal to Heaven” flag over its City Hall since 1964 until it was removed earlier this year.

Thomas has been under fire for failing to disclose thousands of dollars in gifts from GOP megadonor Harlan Crow, who treated Thomas and his wife to vacations and private plane travel. This news comes after recent reporting found Thomas took in more than $4 million worth of gifts in his tenure on the court, which is far higher than any of the other eight justices.

The two Democrats laid out five questions they want Roberts to answer by July 15 because he has “refused to meet with Congress.” The questions pertain to the steps he is taking in his role as chief justice and presiding officer of the Judicial Conference to investigate Alito and Thomas’s alleged scandals.

Roberts said he declined to meet with Congress because of “separation of powers concerns and the importance of preserving judicial independence counsel against such appearances.”

Raskin and Ocasio-Cortez pointed to two looming Supreme Court decisions related to the Jan. 6 insurrection and former President Donald Trump’s claims of immunity as part of the reason for their questions.

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“Justice Alito’s and Justice Thomas’s transparently partisan ideological activity calls into question their impartiality with regard to matters currently pending before the Supreme Court,” the representatives wrote.

“We understand that both Justices have refused to recuse themselves from these matters. However, enforcement of the Court’s Code of Conduct, as well as the constitutional and statutory guarantees that cases will be heard by unbiased judges, cannot rest on a Justice’s introspection and subjective evaluation of his own conduct.”