Sanders Demands Justice Department Probe Of Clarence Thomas
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) is urging the Department of Justice to begin investigating the numerous reports that Supreme Court Associate Justice Clarence Thomas failed to disclose his monied dealings with billionaire Republican donor Harlan Crow. He made the remarks on Sunday's edition of MSNBC's Inside with Jen Psaki
"There were new revelations, Senator, this week about Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and his financial relationship with billionaire Harlan Crow. And just this morning there's even new reporting about some inaccuracies on his financial disclosure forms," Psaki pointed out.
"Your colleague, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, is calling on the Department of Justice to investigate Clarence Thomas for potential ethics violations. Do you back Senator Whitehouse's call?" Psaki asked.
"Well, I think, Senator Whitehouse is on the right track. The Supreme Court does not have to go along with the same type of ethics rules that members of Congress and other judges do, and it's time we ended that leniency for the Supreme Court," Sanders said.
"Some of what we're reading about in terms of Judge Thomas is really quite outrageous, and I think it needs to be investigated," he insisted.
"By the Department of Justice?" Psaki clarified.
"Yes. Right," Sanders confirmed.
Psaki then noted that "a number of colleagues of yours in the House, and in the Senate too, have call – have said he should be impeached. Do you think that if wrongdoing is found, he should be impeached?" she posited.
"Well, I think the first thing you wanna do before you impeach somebody is investigate the situation," Sanders replied. "And I think that is what the Department of Justice should be doing."
Watch below or at this link.
\u201c.@SenSanders tells @jrpsaki he backs calls for DOJ to investigate Justice Clarence Thomas: \n\n"The Supreme Court does not have to go along with the same type of ethics rules that members of Congress and other judges do. It\u2019s time we ended that leniency for the Supreme Court.\u201d\u201d— Inside with Jen Psaki (@Inside with Jen Psaki) 1681661404
Reprinted with permission from Alternet.