Progressive lawmakers renew call for impeachment of Justice Thomas

WASHINGTON — Progressive representatives on Thursday called for the impeachment of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas shortly after a ProPublica report detailed how he took lavish trips funded by a Republican billionaire donor that he did not disclose.

"This degree of corruption is shocking — almost cartoonish," Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., wrote on Twitter. "Thomas must be impeached."

Progressive ally Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., reiterated the call for impeachment, adding that the Supreme Court needs a binding code of ethics. Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., joined in on Twitter: "I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Clarence Thomas needs to be impeached."

The Supreme Court recently increased the level of disclosure required for justices and even the new rules may not have applied to all of the travel that the ProPublica piece highlighted. Thomas did not provide a response to ProPublica nor has the court responded to a request for comment from NBC News.

This isn't the first time progressive lawmakers have called for Thomas to be impeached or resign.

"It doesn't make any sense that we are not calling for his impeachment and proceeding with that," Omar said in a 2022 MSNBC interview after news broke that the justice's wife, Virginia "Ginni" Thomas, allegedly tried to convince Arizona lawmakers to overturn the 2020 election.

Other Democratic lawmakers widely condemned Thomas' alleged actions outlined in the ProPublica article without going so far as to call for his impeachment.

Sens. Chris Murphy of Connecticut and Dick Durbin of Illinois, among others, called for justices to be bound by a code of conduct. District and appeals court judges are bound by a judicial ethics code, but the highest court is not.