Dem Lawmaker Asks Merrick Garland If SCOTUS Judges Can Request Alito, Thomas To Recuse Themselves

3 months ago

At a House Judiciary Committee hearing on Tuesday, Rep. Hank Johnson (D-GA) questioned AG Merrick Garland about the Supreme Court justices.

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Transcript

00:00The bill has expired.

00:01Gentleman from Georgia is recognized for five minutes.

00:03Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

00:05Most Americans have grown sick and tired of this do-nothing MAGA, Republican House of

00:10Representatives, which has failed to pass a single piece of legislation that lowers

00:14costs for families or addresses the southern border issue or other important issues.

00:21Instead of attacking real issues that matter, House MAGA Republicans fritter away time with

00:28rabbit hole investigations of Dr. Fauci and Hunter Biden, while simultaneously spinning

00:35webs of lies that seek to create public wrath against anyone who would dare to be involved

00:42in any effort to hold the convicted felon, Donald Trump, accountable for his misconduct.

00:48The American people can see right through these distraction efforts.

00:53Attorney General Garland, thank you for your many years of service to our nation, among

00:58other positions in the federal justice system, you have had an illustrious career as a federal

01:04judge, a judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit

01:11from 1997 through 2021, including as chief judge from 2013 to 2020.

01:19And you also served as chair of the Executive Committee of the Judicial Conference of the

01:24United States from 2017 to 2020.

01:27So I'm sure that you've had a lot of time to think deeply about the importance of judicial

01:34impartiality in a functioning democracy.

01:39I and 44 other members of Congress have called for Justices Thomas and Alito to recuse themselves

01:46in cases where they cannot be seen as impartial in the case seeking immunity for Donald Trump

01:54and others.

01:56Justice Thomas's wife played a major role in the Stop the Steal movement that culminated

02:01in the January 6th insurrection.

02:03And we recently learned that Justice Alito flew flags related to the Stop the Steal movement

02:10at both his residential home and his vacation home in 2021 and again in 2023, which directly

02:19ties him to the January 6th insurrection to Donald Trump and to efforts to overturn

02:25the 2020 election.

02:27We urged them to recuse themselves from related cases, and Justice Alito last week refused.

02:37Then last week, my colleague Jamie Raskin wrote an op-ed arguing that DOJ could petition

02:44the other seven justices to require Justice Alito and Thomas to recuse themselves.

02:51That leads me to this question.

02:53Is the filing of such a petition with the Supreme Court something that the Department

02:59of Justice is considering?

03:00I'm afraid I'm going to have to give you the same answer I've given to other members.

03:05Justice Department can't comment on matters that are before a court, matters you're talking

03:10about before the Supreme Court.

03:12This is, I'm talking in terms of an independent petition, not related to any matter pending

03:19before the court at this time, but related to those matters.

03:24Justice Department speaks through its filings on matters before the court, and that's all

03:28I can say about it.

03:29Well, I'd like for the DOJ to at least consider that possibility.

03:34My next question, public reporting has revealed that Supreme Court Justices Clarence Thomas

03:40and Samuel Alito have accepted gifts of luxury travel and lodging from billionaire benefactors

03:47and failed to report those gifts as required under federal financial disclosure laws.

03:53The Ethics in Government Act provides the Attorney General authority to investigate

03:58and take action against violations of the federal, of the financial disclosure laws

04:04by members of the federal judiciary, even without a referral from the judicial conference.

04:12What can you tell us about Department of Justice efforts to investigate those high-profile violations

04:20by those two justices?

04:21I'm afraid I'm going to have to say the same as I said before.

04:25The Justice Department does not comment on whether it investigates or who it investigates

04:30or whether it should investigate.

04:32Fair enough, sir.

04:33Those comments are reflected in court papers.

04:35Fair enough.

04:37Threats on the judiciary are increasing, and this is frightening to the rule of law.

04:45Can you talk about the work that DOJ is doing to address this important issue?

04:50Yes.

04:51The threats to the judiciary, threats to prosecutors, threats to law enforcement agents have all

04:59spiked significantly, and in some cases have accelerated from threats to actual violence.

05:08We have a threats task force engaged in investigating these matters.

05:14We intend to aggressively investigate and prosecute threats against our public officials,

05:19including members of Congress, of which the numbers have actually exploded in the past

05:25couple of years.

05:28Democracy cannot continue if the people who make the democracy run are afraid, if they

05:34make their decisions based on fear of being threatened or of being assaulted.

05:41No democracy can survive under those circumstances, and we will do everything we can in our power

05:46to investigate, deter, and prosecute anyone who makes threats against public servants.

Dem Lawmaker Asks Merrick Garland If SCOTUS Judges Can Request Alito, Thomas To Recuse Themselves

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