Democratic New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez alleged Sunday that the conservative Supreme Court justices “lied” during their confirmation hearings, which she said is an impeachable offense.
Ocasio-Cortez said the Court “overreached its authority” after overturning Roe v. Wade in the case Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. She cited Democratic West Virginia Sen. Joe Machin and Republican Maine Sen. Susan Collins alleging that the justices “misled them” by telling the Senate Judiciary Committee during the confirmation hearings that they accept Roe as precedent.
“This is a crisis of legitimacy and President Biden must address that,” she told “Meet the Press” host Chuck Todd.
Manchin said Friday that he “trusted” Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh when they “testified under oath” that they believed Roe v. Wade was “settled legal precedent.” Todd asked the representative if she believes the House Judiciary Committee should investigate their testimonies. (RELATED: Rep. Ocasio-Cortez Attempts To Incite People Into ‘The Streets’ Outside Supreme Court)
“If we allow Supreme Court nominees to lie under oath and secure lifetime appointments to the highest court of the land and then issue, without basis, rulings that deeply undermine the human and civil rights of the majority of Americans, we must see that through,” she said. “There must be consequences for such a deeply destabilizing action and hostile takeover of our democratic institutions. To allow that to stand is to allow it to happen.”
She said Gorsuch and Kavanaugh’s testimonies send “a blaring signal” to future nominees that they can lie to the Senate Judiciary Committee in order to secure their nomination.
“Do you think lying at a confirmation hearing is an impeachable offense?” Todd asked.
“I believe so,” she said. “I believe lying under oath is an impeachable offense. I believe that violating federal law in not disclosing income from political organizations, as Clarence Thomas did years ago, is also potentially an impeachable offense. I believe that not recusing from cases that one clearly has family members involved in with very deep violations of conflicts of interest are also impeachable offenses, and I believe this is something that should be very seriously considered, including by senators like Joe Manchin and Susan Collins.”
Congressional Democrats called on Thomas to recuse himself from all cases surrounding January 6 matters after the Washington Post reported that his wife told former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows via text message not to concede and that Democrats were attempting a “heist” on a presidential election back in November 2020.
In 2011, Thomas acknowledged that he did not disclose his wife’s income from the Heritage Foundation after the liberal advocacy group, Common Cause, came out against him for the non-disclosure though it is required under the 1978 Ethics in Government Act, the New York Times reported. Ginni reportedly made $686,589 between 2003 and 2007.
The three Trump-appointed justices answered questions about Roe during their confirmation hearings. Justice Kavanaugh said the 1973 decision is an “important precedent of the Supreme Court that has been reaffirmed many times,” NBC News reported. Justice Gorsuch said that precedent is an important determinant in U.S. law.
“Once a case is settled, that adds to the determinacy of the law. What was once a hotly contested issue is no longer a hotly contested issue. We move forward,” he said in 2017.
Justice Amy Coney Barrett said she would not characterize Roe as “super precedent” because Americans’ calls for its overruling have remained over the course of nearly five decades, according to NBC News.