After spending over a quarter of a billion dollars on Donald Trump’s presidential election campaign, Elon Musk is pouring money into a Supreme Court election in Wisconsin. Musk has spent more than $18 million to support Trump-backed candidate Brad Schimel over liberal Susan Crawford and has been paying Wisconsin voters $100 to help flip the state’s top court. This election could impact abortion rights, unions and Republicans’ ability to keep gerrymandered districts in place to control Congress. “The level of corruption at play here, the level of money at play here, really is a warning sign for what’s happening to our democracy,” says Ari Berman, voting rights correspondent for Mother Jones magazine.

This content originally appeared on Democracy Now! and was authored by Democracy Now!.

Progressives on Thursday urged congressional Democrats to immediately push for investigations and impeachment proceedings after bombshell reporting by ProPublica revealed that right-wing Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has been taking luxury trips funded by a billionaire Republican megadonor for more than 20 years without formally disclosing them—a likely violation of federal law.

The investigative outlet reported Thursday that "for more than two decades, Thomas has accepted luxury trips virtually every year" from Dallas-based real estate magnate Harlan Crow.

According to ProPublica, Thomas "has vacationed on Crow's superyacht around the globe. He flies on Crow's Bombardier Global 5000 jet. He has gone with Crow to the Bohemian Grove, the exclusive California all-male retreat, and to Crow's sprawling ranch in East Texas. And Thomas typically spends about a week every summer at Crow's private resort in the Adirondacks."

"These trips appeared nowhere on Thomas' financial disclosures," the outlet noted. "His failure to report the flights appears to violate a law passed after Watergate that requires justices, judges, members of Congress, and federal officials to disclose most gifts, two ethics law experts said. He also should have disclosed his trips on the yacht, these experts said."

Virginia Canter, a former government ethics lawyer who is now with the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), told ProPublica that the justice "seems to have completely disregarded his higher ethical obligations."

"When a justice's lifestyle is being subsidized by the rich and famous, it absolutely corrodes public trust," said Canter. "Quite frankly, it makes my heart sink."

"It's not just the undisclosed gifts of hospitality, it's the undisclosed company of political operatives—particularly Leonard Leo, the operative who helped the billionaires capture the court."

The luxury trip revelation is just the latest scandal for Thomas, who has faced mounting scrutiny over the past year for alleged ethics violations, including his decision not to recuse himself from cases involving the 2020 presidential election despite his wife's direct involvement in efforts to overturn the results of that contest.

"Democrats should force an impeachment vote of Justice Thomas on the House floor," Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Will Bunch argued Thursday in response to the ProPublica reporting. "It won't pass, obviously, but put Republicans on the record supporting this level of corruption, and make the corrupt judiciary a campaign issue."

It's unclear how House Democrats would go about forcing an impeachment vote given GOP control of the chamber. Republicans have repeatedly defended Thomas as he's faced backlash over his failure to recuse from election-related cases.

Brian Fallon, executive director of the advocacy group Demand Justice, said in a statement Thursday that the Senate—which is narrowly controlled by Democrats—"cannot let this extraordinary display of corruption and lawbreaking go unanswered."

"Senate Democrats cannot force Thomas to resign or give him the impeachment trial he clearly deserves, but they can hold hearings to further expose Justice Thomas’ apparent lawbreaking and the Republican justices' deep ties to far-right donors," said Fallon. "As long as we are stuck with a Supreme Court made up of corrupt idealogues in the pocket of far-right donors, the American people deserve to know the truth."

ProPublica stressed that "the extent and frequency of Crow's apparent gifts to Thomas have no known precedent in the modern history of the U.S. Supreme Court."

"Crow's access to the justice extends to anyone the businessman chooses to invite along," the outlet reported. "Thomas' frequent vacations at Topridge have brought him into contact with corporate executives and political activists. During just one trip in July 2017, Thomas' fellow guests included executives at Verizon and PricewaterhouseCoopers, major Republican donors, and one of the leaders of the American Enterprise Institute, a pro-business conservative think tank."

The outlet noted that a painting of Thomas at Topridge—Crow's private lakeside resort in upstate New York—shows Thomas "in conversation with Leonard Leo, the Federalist Society leader regarded as an architect of the Supreme Court’s recent turn to the right."

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), the chair of the Senate Judiciary Courts Subcommittee and a vocal advocate of ethics reform on the high court, wrote on Twitter that ProPublica's reporting "cries out for the kind of independent investigation that the Supreme Court—and only the Supreme Court, across the entire government—refuses to perform."

"It's not just the undisclosed gifts of hospitality, it's the undisclosed company of political operatives—particularly Leonard Leo, the operative who helped the billionaires capture the court," Whitehouse continued. "Who were Thomas' companions on these free undisclosed vacations, and what interests did those undisclosed companions have before the court? The question is obvious."

"All of this needs robust investigation," the senator added, "and it's the chief justice's job to make sure that occurs."

This content originally appeared on Common Dreams and was authored by Jake Johnson.

Congressional candidate Nina Turner declared Friday that she is "not for sale" and suggested her primary opponent, Democratic Rep. Shontel Brown, is after federal filings revealed that a billionaire-funded super PAC has spent more than $1 million in support of the incumbent in Ohio's 11th District.

"Let's be clear, those corporate interests don't make donations, they make investments."

"See, there is a clear difference in this race. One of the candidates in this primary is for sale," Turner, a former Ohio state senator, wrote on Twitter. "I am not for sale. Cleveland is not for sale."

Turner, who has pledged to reject campaign cash from lobbyists and corporate PACs, was responding to reporting from The Intercept spotlighting the financial support Brown has received from Protect Our Future, a super PAC launched this year with the backing of cryptocurrency billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried.

Federal Election Commission (FEC) disclosures show that Protect Our Future—which reportedly plans to pour $10 million into Democratic primaries this cycle—has spent more than $1 million over just the past week on ads in support of Brown's campaign.

In a statement on Thursday, Turner's campaign accused Brown of failing to "bring a single penny home" to Cleveland—part of Ohio's 11th Congressional District and the poorest big city in the U.S.—but managing to "flag down dark money that will be used to attack Nina Turner."

"All over the country, the flood of corporate money into electoral politics is corrupting our democracy," said Kara Turrentine, Turner's campaign manager. "Sadly, right here in Ohio 11, those same corrupt interests are pumping money into campaigns and super PACs because they know Nina Turner and progressives like her aren't going to Washington to be a partner with them."

"Let's be clear, those corporate interests don't make donations, they make investments," Turrentine added. "And they expect a return on those investments."

The May 3 Democratic primary in Ohio's 11th Congressional District is a rematch of a heated special election that took place less than a year ago. Brown, backed by a torrent of corporate cash and prominent members of the Democratic establishment, defeated Turner by around 6%.

At the time of the 2021 race, the largest donor to Democratic Majority for Israel—a super PAC that spent big against Turner—was an oil and gas executive.

On Wednesday, the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) PAC stirred outrage by endorsing Brown, a member of both the CPC and the corporate-friendly New Democrat Coalition. Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), chair of the CPC, endorsed Turner over Brown in last year's special election.

The CPC PAC's endorsement of Brown came just a day after Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.)—the lone Senate member of the CPC—formally endorsed Turner, praising her as "a real leader who fights for higher wages, Medicare for All, and affordable prescription drugs."

"With Nina, we know that she will not be afraid to take on the corporate interests that are driving up the price of gas, food, and just about everything else," Sanders said in a statement. "Nina knows the job is more than just voting the right way. It's about leadership."

This content originally appeared on Common Dreams - Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community and was authored by Jake Johnson.