Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) slammed Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas as “corrupt” during an interview with MSNBC on the court’s recent decision to overturn a Trump-era bump stock ban. Thomas has come under increasing scrutiny for gifts he has received from Republican super donors, including billionaire Harlan Crow.
“Y’all were too nice before,” Crockett said during an interview with Melissa Murray. “Clarence Thomas is corrupt. End of story. No one gets this kind of money and isn’t influenced in any way.”
“There will absolutely be a reckoning on November 5,” she added.
Earlier this week, Senate Judiciary Chair Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) released information showing that Thomas did not disclose information on three trips he took that were funded by Crow. The report noted that Thomas had received nearly $4.2 million, which far exceeds gifts received by any other judge.
Thomas pushed back on the allegations, with Elliot S. Berke, an attorney for Thomas, saying the information disclosed by Crow fell under the “personal hospitality exemption.” Thus, Thomas did not have to disclose the trips, he argued.
According to data compiled by Fix the Court, since 2004, Thomas has accepted $4 million, or 193 gifts. The group reported that Thomas probably accepted an additional 126 gifts but could not confirm this to be true. Of the nearly 200 gifts, Thomas only reported 27.
Democrats have repeatedly criticized Thomas and Justice Samuel Alito for bias in their court decisions. In recent weeks, Alito has come under fire in light of reports of flags flown over his homes, including an upside-down American flag over his Alexandria, Va., residence.
Alito and Thomas played crucial roles in the overturning of the bump stock ban on Friday.
The court handed down a 6-3 decision that overturned a Trump-era bump stock ban put into place in the wake of the 2017 Las Vegas mass shooting, which was the deadliest in U.S. history, killing 60 people and wounding hundreds of others.
The Trump and Biden administrations implemented the ban by having the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) classify semiautomatic guns with bump stocks as machine guns, which are banned under federal law.
Thomas wrote the Friday decision, saying that the federal government had stretched the law too far.
“We conclude that [a] semiautomatic rifle equipped with a bump stock is not a ‘machinegun’ because it does not fire more than one shot ‘by a single function of the trigger,’” Thomas wrote, quoting the statutory definition.
Alito added in a concurrence that he believed the rule was invalid and said that Congress could change the law if it chooses to ban it.
“There is a simple remedy for the disparate treatment of bump stocks and machineguns,” he wrote. “Congress can amend the law—and perhaps would have done so already if ATF had stuck with its earlier interpretation. Now that the situation is clear, Congress can act.”
However, Crockett was not convinced by Alito’s opinion, saying, “I’m sure Alito would find a reason for why that law is unconstitutional in some way.”
“All of those gun manufacturers would win again,” she added.
Crockett’s comments come amid an ongoing Democratic effort to pass a Supreme Court ethics package. This week, Democrats tried to move the bill on the floor via unanimous consent, but Republicans blocked it.