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‘Grave Concerns’: House Democrats Urge Chief Justice to Formally Investigate Clarence Thomas
Eighteen House Democrats, all former prosecutors, judges, and law enforcement officials, have sent a detailed, eight-page letter to Chief Justice John Roberts urging him to create an independent group to investigate Justice Clarence Thomas over “recent allegations of ethical violations and conflicts of interests” involving his relationship with a billionaire GOP donor who reportedly had business before the Supreme Court.
They ask at the conclusion of the investigation the report be made public.
The group’s letter also refers to “serious allegations of ethical improprieties” by both Justice Clarence Thomas and Justice Samuel Alito. NBC News was first to report on the letter.
Headed by U.S. Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY), the group’s letter to Chief Justice Roberts expresses their “grave concerns about the Supreme Court’s lack of internal structure to properly enforce the ethical standards to which you have repeatedly asserted that the Court adheres.”
“It has become abundantly clear to us that the current internal mechanism employed by the Court is not sufficient to prevent either the real, or appearance of, impropriety of its members or to hold to account justices who break ethics rules. This has further undermined public confidence in the institution, which is now at an all-time low.”
They warn that the reports about Thomas and Alito “raise serious questions about the integrity and legitimacy of the Court. As Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, it is your obligation to preserve and uphold the American people’s trust in the Court.”
In addition to the billionaire Harlan Crow, the letter includes references to Ginni Thomas, the far-right wing activist and lobbyist who is married to Justice Thomas, and former Federalist Society vice president Leonard Leo. It also mentions the January 6 insurrection.
“We are especially concerned about the numerous recent reports of Justice Clarence Thomas’s highly questionable ethical decisions, including conflicts of interests related to his wife and other beneficial financial relationships with billionaire and political donor Harlan Crow and Leonard Leo, who oversees a multi-billion-dollar dark money operation to influence the Supreme Court. These include allegations that Justice Thomas’s wife, Ginni, may have had a vested interest in cases that came before Court related to the January 6 insurrection, which Justice Thomas nonetheless ruled on (in favor of Ginni Thomas’s preferred outcome).”
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It goes on to note that “supplemental reporting indicates that Ginni Thomas may have been paid by Mr. Leo, who has substantial business before the Court, and that Justice Thomas accepted gifts and benefits from Mr. Crow that he failed to properly disclose.”
The 18 Democrats also point to the fact that not one but two Supreme Court decisions have been leaked, both involving majority opinions written by Justice Alito.
“Another troubling incident involving Justice Alito occurred in 2014, when Reverend Robert L. Schenck, an evangelical minister and former anti-abortion advocate, allegedly received advance notice of a decision on Burwell v. Hobby Lobby. As was the case in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Org., the leaked Hobby Lobby decision was written by Justice Samuel A. Alito.”
The group concludes, “If, as you say, the Court is capable of upholding the highest ethical standards, then we hope you will accept our recommendations to establish an independent and transparent investigative body and separate ethics counsel to regain the trust and confidence of the American people.”
You can read the full letter here.
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Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney drew a standing ovation at the World Economic Forum in Davos after warning that the global order has ruptured.
“Let me be direct: We are in the midst of a rupture, not a transition,” Carney said, as The New York Times reported.
“I will talk today about the breaking of the world order, the end of a pleasant fiction and the beginning of a brutal reality where the geopolitics of the great powers is not subject to any constraint,” he explained.
“Every day we are reminded that we live in an era of great power rivalry,” he said. “That the rules-based order is fading. That the strong do what they can, and the weak suffer what they must.”
Carney did not say President Donald Trump’s name, but he did tell his audience, “recently, great powers began using economic integration as weapons. Tariffs as leverage. Financial infrastructure as coercion. Supply chains as vulnerabilities to be exploited.”
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“You cannot live within the lie of mutual benefit through integration, when integration becomes the source of your subordination.”
He also said that “there is a strong tendency for countries to go along to get along. To accommodate. To avoid trouble. To hope that compliance will buy safety.”
“It won’t,” he warned.
Carney said that “intermediate powers like Canada, are not powerless. They have the capacity to build a new order that encompasses our values, such as respect for human rights, sustainable development, solidarity, sovereignty and territorial integrity of the various states.”
And he warned that those powers “must act together, because if we’re not at the table, we’re on the menu.”
The Times noted that Carney’s speech came “not long after” President Donald Trump “posted an A.I. image on social media that included a map of American flags superimposed over both Canada and the United States,” along with the U.S. flag on Greenland, Venezuela, and Cuba.
Very important and very well put remarks by 🇨🇦 PM Mark Carney. It’s time to take down the sign and speak up. pic.twitter.com/Ky00CNMYVM
— Carl Bildt (@carlbildt) January 20, 2026
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Image via Reuters
In a stark warning on the first anniversary of President Donald Trump’s second term in office, The Bulwark’s editor, Jonathan V. Last, suggests that under Trump, America may adopt Putinism as its domestic policy, having already adopted it for its foreign policy.
“Will Putinism take over American domestic politics, too?” Last asks, in an opinion piece titled, “This Is the End.”
“America has adopted Putinism as its modus operandi for foreign affairs,” he says. “Why would America not also adopt Putinism in its domestic affairs? Why would the American regime tolerate free and fair elections or the transfer of power to an opposition party?”
Pursuing the question, Last continued: “Are there examples of expansionist, rogue regimes which ignored international law and attempted to subjugate free people abroad, but respected liberal democratic outcomes that terminated their possession of power at home?”
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To those who suggest Trumpism is temporary, Last suggests he disagrees.
“Many people comfort themselves by saying some version of ‘Donald Trump is an aberration’ or ‘This isn’t who we are,'” he writes.
But, he continues, “If Trump was an aberration and his actions did not have sufficient public support, then he would be removed from office. There are two mechanisms for doing so—impeachment and the 25th Amendment.”
“Trump will not be removed from office; which allows one of two conclusions. Either: Trump’s policies are supported by a sufficient percentage of Americans to be viable; or America’s constitutional order is so ossified that it no longer functions to safeguard the will of the people.”
“Neither of these is an alibi,” Last warns, noting that, “either one supports the conclusion that the problem is not Trump. It is America and Americans. This is who we are. Like it or not.”
Last also makes several other predictions:
“The days of intelligence sharing between America and our former allies are drawing to a close.”
“The death of NATO.”
“Germany, Poland, and Canada will acquire nuclear weapons. So will Japan. Sweden, Australia, and South Korea may develop nuclear capabilities as well.”
“Europe will draw closer to China.”
“Greenland will become disputed territory.”
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Image via Reuters
Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent was met with mockery after explaining he wants to protect “mom and pop” owners who have up to a dozen homes they’ve bought as retirement investments.
Bessent and President Donald Trump have declared they want to ban large institutional investors from purchasing single-family homes as housing becomes more scarce and less affordable.
“We are going to give guidance at some point to see what is a mom and pop, that someone — maybe your parents — for their retirement, [bought] about 5, 10, 12 homes,” Bessent told Fox Business’ Maria Bartiromo at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
“So we don’t want to push the mom and pops out,” he continued. “We just want to push everyone else out.”
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Bessent, a former hedge fund manager, has an estimated net worth of $521 million, according to The Street.
Critics were quick to ridicule Bessent as out of touch.
“Good news for the forgotten man,” declared The Bulwark’s Tim Miller. “The mom and pop real estate investor who has purchased 12 homes can breathe easy, the Treasury Secretary is looking out for you.”
“These people are completely out of touch with how life is for you,” observed The Lincoln Project.
Governor Gavin Newsom’s Press Office commented, “Scott, people are trying to buy 1 house — to live in. Could the Trump Admin be any more out of touch?”
Bessent: “Someone, maybe your parents for their retirement have bought 5, 10, 12 homes.” pic.twitter.com/eUZXTmnhpH
— The Bulwark (@BulwarkOnline) January 20, 2026
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Treasury Chief Draws Ridicule for Wanting to Protect Americans With ‘5, 10, 12 Homes’
Canadian Prime Minister Warns World Order Has Ruptured
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Canadian Prime Minister Warns World Order Has Ruptured
US Could Slide Into Putin-Style Rule After Trump Foreign Policy Shift: Journalist
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