Accountable.US and United for Democracy Call for Justices Thomas and Alito’s Recusal After Major Ethical Concerns Come to Light in Upcoming Supreme Court Case

New Accountable.US report released today uncovers Justices Thomas and Alito’s cozy ties to conservative kingpin Leonard Leo, calling into question their impartiality in the upcoming SCOTUS case FCC v. Consumers’ Research

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Accountable.US is releasing a new report revealing significant conflicts of interest implicating Justice Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito in the upcoming Supreme Court case FCC v. Consumers’ Research – whose outcome could have sweeping consequences, including the potential to cripple consumer safeguards and roll back environmental protections. Justices Thomas and Alito’s personal and professional relationship with Leonard Leo, a significant financial backer and advisor to Consumers’ Research, raises serious concerns about the ability of the justices to hear the case impartially, and threatens to further degrade Americans’ trust in the highest court in the land.

“Americans deserve a legal system that isn’t influenced by billionaires and special interest backers pushing an agenda at the expense of working families. Justices Thomas and Alito’s cozy ties to Leonard Leo and thereby Consumers’ Research fly straight in the face of that, and present a clear conflict of interest impeding their ability to rule impartially on the case,” said Accountable.US President Caroline Ciccone. “Public trust in the Supreme Court is already at an all-time low because of misguided conduct by Justices – this case threatens to degrade it further. The Supreme Court simply cannot be trusted to defend the Constitution if it doesn’t adopt an obligatory, enforceable code of conduct that cleans up the impropriety that’s existed on the court for years. Thomas and Alito must recuse themselves and restore a semblance of integrity to the highest Court.”

“The Supreme Court has been engulfed by corruption scandals, many of which centering around the right-wing justices’ overly-friendly relationships with powerful billionaires and special interests,” said United For Democracy Senior Advisor Meagan Hatcher-Mays. “At the same time that Justices Thomas and Alito were accepting lavish gifts and trips from billionaires, they were hearing cases with those same billionaires’ legal interests at stake. It’s impossible for the American public to trust in Supreme Court rulings when this kind of glad-handing is taking place. The appearance of impropriety is clear in FCC v. Consumers’ Research given Leonard Leo’s long-time friendship with Justices Thomas and Alito and his financial entanglements with Consumers’ Research. Justices Thomas and Alito must recuse themselves immediately.”

The findings in today’s report, show that conservative activist and dark-money kingpin Leonard Leo is the “main backer” of Consumers’ Research, with much of the group’s funding reportedly being propped up by Leo’s network. Justices Thomas and Alito – who will hear oral arguments in FCC v. Consumers’ Research next week – both have close ties to Leonard Leo. Justice Thomas and Leo have been personal friends for decades and vacation together. Thomas is even reportedly the godfather to one of Leo’s children. Justice Alito also shares a close relationship with Leo, who has arranged multiple trips for Alito, including a private fishing trip to Alaska, which Alito failed to disclose. 

Accountable.US, United for Democracy, and Take Back the Court’s letter calling for recusal can be found here.

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