Bernie Sanders backs calls for DOJ to investigate Clarence Thomas for ethics violations
Jack Birle
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Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) is backing calls to have the Justice Department investigate Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas over alleged undisclosed gifts.
Sanders backed a call by Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) for the investigation Sunday, saying he’s “on the right track.”
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“I think that Sen. 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 … Some of what we are reading about in terms of [Justice] Thomas is really quite outrageous, and I think it needs to be investigated,” Sanders said on MSNBC’s Inside with Jen Psaki.
Psaki then asked specifically if the Department of Justice should be investigating Thomas, to which he said, “Yes.” Sanders would not go as far as calling for the impeachment of Thomas, urging investigations should occur first.
“I think the first thing you want to do before you impeach somebody is investigate the situation. And I think it is what the Department of Justice should be doing,” Sanders said.
The Senate is scheduled to have a hearing on the ethics of the Supreme Court on Monday, which was scheduled in response to the allegations about Thomas.
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Thomas has defended himself on the allegations regarding trips he went on with his friend Harlan Crow, who is a Dallas-based real estate developer and GOP donor, saying he “sought guidance from my colleagues and others in the judiciary, and was advised that this sort of personal hospitality from close personal friends, who did not have business before the court, was not reportable.”
Thomas has not commented on newer allegations that he did not disclose a real estate transaction with Crow.