In condemning the recent decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to grant presidents a layer of legal immunity (meaning protection from prosecution) for some actions taken in office, Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), who is the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, alleged that members of the nation’s highest court were “embedded” with the “Stop the Steal” movement.
That moniker refers to conspiracy theories around the 2020 presidential election, which available evidence has never proven was actually shifted by systematic fraud.
“But today, far-right justices embedded with the ‘Stop the Steal’ movement conferred broad immunity on Donald Trump, even going so far as to help him keep evidence of his criminal actions from coming to light in a court of law,” the Congressman argued. “Today’s ruling, postponing any prosecution of Trump until after the election and holding that Presidents are presumptively immune from criminal prosecution for using their office to assassinate political rivals, organize a military coup, or take bribes, is a radical break from the rule of law which underscores how much our democratic values have been eroded and are on the line in November.”
Raskin’s claims about connections to “Stop the Steal” refer, presumably, to Supreme Court Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas. Media reports said that multiple flags seen during the 2021 U.S. Capitol riot were also seen outside Alito residences, with the judge crediting one — an upside down American flag — to his wife. And as for Thomas, his wife Ginni Thomas was an avowed supporter of some targeting of Biden’s election win back in 2020, even texting with then-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows about it as Trump and figures around him railed against the presidential election results.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) already said after the ruling that she’d be preparing articles of impeachment targeting the Supreme Court.
