Ethic rules dictate that federal judges must recuse themselves from cases that involve a family member.
It has now come to light that wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas was actively involved in efforts to illegally overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. Yet, Justice Thomas failed to recuse himself from cases related to the election.
Text messages from Virginia “Ginni” Thomas to then White House chief of staff Mark Meadows show a concerted effort to violate the constitution of the United States of America following Donald Trump’s brutal loss in 2020. For weeks around the date of January 6, 2021, Ginni Thomas used her implied power as the wife of a supreme court justice to try to install Trump as president despite his losing the election to Joe Biden by over 7 million votes.
Spouting wild, disproven QAnon conspiracy theories, Ginni Thomas did not just comment to Meadows about the election, she actively strategized and promoted the attempted overthrow of the government.
Justice Thomas was well aware of his wife’s endorsement of illegal actions to overturn the election, but he failed to recuse himself from cases related to the November 2020 presidential election.
“You cannot have a justice hearing cases related to this election, and, in fact, the ethics rules that apply to all the other federal judges say that if it involves a family member — appearance of impartiality — they have to recuse themselves,” explained Sen. Amy Klobuchar on ABC’s This Week.
In fact, Thomas did participate in a ruling in January 2022 in a case in which Trump sought the court to block the release of White House records concerning the January 6 attempted insurrection. Ruling not based on the Constitution, but instead influenced by his desire to hide his wife’s illegal activities, Thomas was the lone dissenting vote.
At the time Thomas gave no reason for voting against the rule of law. However now that his wife’s participation in the coup has come to light, his reasons are clear.
According to New York University law professor Stephen Gillers, due to his wife’s activities Thomas “had an obligation not to sit in any case related to the election, the Jan. 6 committee, or the Capitol invasion.”
This is not the first time Thomas’ behavior has been under scrutiny. In fact, his very position on the bench remains clouded in controversy. Thomas was nominated to the supreme court after serving only 8 months as a judge. During his confirmation hearings in 1991 after being nominated to the bench by President George H. W. Bush, Thomas was accused of sexual harassment by lawyer Anita Hill.
Hill revealed to the FBI, and later testified before the Senate, that Thomas had engaged in extensive sexual harassment of her while he was her supervisor at the Department of Education and the EEOC. Four witnesses confirmed the harassment. Hill also took a polygraph test which she passed. Thomas refused to take a polygraph test.
Thomas is one of two supreme court justices who were accused of sexual misconduct prior to their confirmation to the high court. Brett Kavanaugh was nominated to the bench by Trump in 2018. He was accused of sexual assault by Christine Blasey Ford, Deborah Ramirez, and Julie Swetnick. The FBI failed to investigate over 4,500 tips related to Kavanaugh’s history of sexual assault. Despite the overwhelming evidence against him, Kavanaugh was confirmed to the bench.
Thomas’ failure to recuse himself from cases relating to the 2020 election due to his wife’s active involvement in trying to illegally overturn the results remains highly suspect. Is this cause for impeachment? It certainly may be.
“When your spouse is conversing with people who have some control over litigation to challenge an election, you shouldn’t be sitting on the Supreme Court deciding that election or any aspect of it,” cites Amanda Frost, a law professor at American University in Washington.
“Clarence Thomas should be impeached,” summarized Rep. Ilhan Omar.
Thomas’ actions and deceit are the latest facts to come to light about a growing effort among the GOP to assault our country’s democracy. Lawsuits have been filed by voters to keep officials including Rep. Madison Cawthorn, Sen. Ron Johnson, Rep. Tom Tiffany, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, and Rep. Scott Fitzgerald from running for re-election due to their violation of the 14th Amendment by participating in the January 6 insurrection.
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