Despite calls from Democratic lawmakers, there are no indications that Justice Clarence Thomas will recuse himself from Tuesday’s case.
Democrats have questioned whether Thomas can remain impartial in Jan. 6 cases, given that his wife, Virginia “Ginni” Thomas, pressed the Trump White House and lawmakers to overturn Joe Biden’s 2020 victory and exchanged more than two dozen text messages with White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows in the weeks after the vote.
Ginni Thomas corresponded with lawyer John Eastman, a former Thomas clerk who had advocated a fringe legal theory that Vice President Mike Pence could block the certification of Biden’s electoral college win. She also attended the Jan. 6, 2021, “Stop the Steal” rally before the Capitol attack and told the House committee investigating the attack in 2022 that she still believed the 2020 election was stolen.
“I don’t think Thomas will recuse because he fails to recognize that his wife’s active involvement in the ‘Stop the Steal’ effort means his impartiality might reasonably be questioned, which is the test for recusal here,” Stephen Gillers, a judicial ethics expert at New York University’s law school, said in an email. “He’s wrong in thinking that.”
Mark Paoletta, the D.C. lawyer and former White House aide who is a staunch Thomas defender, told The Washington Post that there is “no reason” for the justice to recuse himself from the obstruction case or the upcoming presidential immunity case, in which Donald Trump is arguing that he cannot be prosecuted for actions he took while in office.
“These baseless calls for recusal are simply an effort by the Left to shrink the Court so that their preferred Justices decide these cases,” Paoletta said in an emailed statement. “Justice Thomas’ wife has no ‘interest’ as defined in the law in these cases that would require his recusal.”
If Thomas were to recuse, only eight justices would hear the case, which could result in a 4-4 tie.
He very rarely does so. Thomas didn’t sit out oral arguments for February’s ballot disqualification case or deliberations over whether to fast-track consideration of Trump’s immunity claim. The justice missed Monday’s court session but did not provide a public explanation for his absence.
Democrats have questioned whether Thomas can remain impartial in Jan. 6 cases, given that his wife, Virginia “Ginni” Thomas, pressed the Trump White House and lawmakers to overturn Joe Biden’s 2020 victory and exchanged more than two dozen text messages with White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows in the weeks after the vote.
Ginni Thomas corresponded with lawyer John Eastman, a former Thomas clerk who had advocated a fringe legal theory that Vice President Mike Pence could block the certification of Biden’s electoral college win. She also attended the Jan. 6, 2021, “Stop the Steal” rally before the Capitol attack and told the House committee investigating the attack in 2022 that she still believed the 2020 election was stolen.
“I don’t think Thomas will recuse because he fails to recognize that his wife’s active involvement in the ‘Stop the Steal’ effort means his impartiality might reasonably be questioned, which is the test for recusal here,” Stephen Gillers, a judicial ethics expert at New York University’s law school, said in an email. “He’s wrong in thinking that.”
Mark Paoletta, the D.C. lawyer and former White House aide who is a staunch Thomas defender, told The Washington Post that there is “no reason” for the justice to recuse himself from the obstruction case or the upcoming presidential immunity case, in which Donald Trump is arguing that he cannot be prosecuted for actions he took while in office.
“These baseless calls for recusal are simply an effort by the Left to shrink the Court so that their preferred Justices decide these cases,” Paoletta said in an emailed statement. “Justice Thomas’ wife has no ‘interest’ as defined in the law in these cases that would require his recusal.”
If Thomas were to recuse, only eight justices would hear the case, which could result in a 4-4 tie.
He very rarely does so. Thomas didn’t sit out oral arguments for February’s ballot disqualification case or deliberations over whether to fast-track consideration of Trump’s immunity claim. The justice missed Monday’s court session but did not provide a public explanation for his absence.
