WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Stonecrest, last week was among a group of lawmakers and activists who publicly called on Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas to resign. 

His call for Thomas' resignation during a news conference Wednesday was in response to ProPublica and Washington Post reports that showed Thomas and his wife took part in privately paid luxury travel, exorbitant gifts and real estate deals with billionaire Texas Republican megadonor Harlan Crow — none of which the justice disclosed. Johnson, whose district includes Newton County, is a member of the House Judiciary Committee and the ranking Democratic member of its Subcommittee on Courts. He has suggested in recent days that Thomas resign or be censured by his fellow justices.

Johnson said he was "deeply disappointed and angered by the revelations in the ProPublica and Washington Post reports."

"Justice Thomas has been using his position as a Supreme Court Justice to live like an out-of-control billionaire baller, on a ($263,000) per year salary, lining his pockets and traveling in luxury, Elon Musk style, all the while falsifying his disclosure forms to keep his opulent lifestyle a secret from the American public — a public that deserves his honest services.

 "Justice Thomas has been brazenly corrupted and compromised by Republican dark-monied, megadonor Harlan Crow. Over the past 20 years, Justice Thomas has sanctimoniously paraded as a modest, pristine and principled man, using the media to falsely project that he was the type of guy who preferred Walmart parking lots, to the sandy beaches of Florida. 

"The naked truth is that for at least the last 20 years, Justice Thomas has been lavishly wined and dined, with frequent flyer private jet, and superyacht travel, to exotic locales worldwide, while also being ingratiated with exquisite accommodations, meals and expensive gifts — including a $19,000 Bible."

He also said other allegations have included Thomas not disclosing property sales to Crow or Thomas' wife's income from a conservative think tank and college.  

"And what is Justice Thomas's response? That he either didn’t know or didn't understand the required disclosure forms. This, from a man who professes strict and rigid adherence to the right-wing judicial philosophy of textualism. And this, from a man who sits on our nation’s highest Court, empowered with the authority and responsibility to decide grave matters of constitutional significance, including the right to life itself," Johnson said.

"To protect what little is left of public trust and respect for the United States Supreme Court, Justice Thomas must resign immediately. It's not enough to amend and try to hide your corruption. It's too late for that. But it's not too late for our democracy."

However, Johnson later told the news publication Axios that — because Republicans control the House of Representatives — any congressional action against Thomas will not move forward.

"Under Republican leadership, it’s not going to happen, I’m afraid," Johnson told Axios of impeachment or congressional censure.

Thomas has declined comment on the ProPublica report. Crow said in a statement he “acknowledged that he’d extended ‘hospitality’ to the Thomases ‘over the years,’ but said Thomas never asked for any of it and it was ‘no different from the hospitality we have extended to our many other dear friends.’”