In 1991, when Clarence Thomas was nominated for the Supreme Court, Anita Hill was interviewed by the FBI during their investigation of him. She was a former colleague and so was expected to confirm his good character. Instead, she told the FBI that he had sexually harassed her. Her interview was leaked and there was a media firestorm during the Clarence Thomas hearings with Republican senators calling her a liar and Democrats doing their best to see nothing. Hill had corroborating witnesses who were never called.
Thomas swore under oath that he did not sexually harass Hill or anyone else. He claimed he did not watch pornography. These are lies that have been refuted in the years since.
Since then, other women have come forward. There were also four witnesses who could corroborate Hill’s testimony but they were not called. At the time, witnesses were found who could contradict Thomas’ denials about talking about porn in the workplace and harassing women.
Moira Smith came forward in 2016 to report that Thomas groped her when she was twenty-four.
There is an argument to be made to impeach Clarence Thomas for lying in his confirmation hearings. There’s also an argument to be made that he was involved in and aware of his wife’s efforts to overturn the election in 2020.
- Newsweek: Clarence Thomas: The effort to impeach Supreme Court Justice over his alleged sexual misconduct
- New York Magazine: The Case for impeaching Clarence Thomas
- Strange Justice by Jane Mayer and Jill Abramson
- Anchorage Daily News: I came forward about being groped by Clarence Thomas. Was it worth it? I don’t know.
15 Oct 1991