More that 1 million people signed an online petition calling for the impeachment of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.
The petition was launched earlier this year by liberal advocacy group ‘MoveOn’ after it was reported that Thomas’ wife, Virginia “Ginni” Thomas, had repeatedly urged Trump aides and state lawmakers to overturn the results of the election.
The committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riot has text messages between Ginni Thomas and Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows that shows her urging him to fight to overturn the results of the 2020 election. Ginni Thomas also emailed 29 lawmakers in Arizona encouraging them to “stand strong in the face of political and media pressure,” arguing they have the power to choose Arizona’s electors who vote in the Electoral College for president.
“Thomas’ failure to recuse himself warrants immediate investigation and heightened alarm. And it’s only the latest in a long history of conflicts of interest in the service of a right-wing agenda and mixing his powerful role with his conservative political activism,” the petition reads. “He has shown he cannot be an impartial justice and is more concerned with covering up his wife’s coup attempts than the health of the Supreme Court. He must resign—or Congress must immediately investigate and impeach.”
The petition gained steam after the Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade. The group noted that Thomas was one of the justices who ruled that women do not have a constitutional right to an abortion and suggested that rulings that establish the right to contraception, same-sex relationships, and same-sex marriage are also on the chopping block.
MoveOn’s executive director, Rahna Epting, previously told Newsweek that Ginni Thomas’ text messages “revealed a direct conflict of interest for Justice Thomas when a lawsuit came before the Supreme Court on whether the Trump White House needed to disclose communications we now know included texts from his wife. Justice Thomas was the only vote against White House officials having to disclose the documents.”
“This is a severe conflict of interest. Justice Thomas has disgraced himself and American democracy. He must immediately resign or be impeached,”added.
