While Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas was hospitalized earlier this month with a non-COVID infection, news broke of his wife Virginia “Ginni” Thomas’ involvement with efforts to overturn the 2020 elections. The Thomas couple has long been criticized for actively supporting far-right causes, with the justice’s impartiality and credibility often called into question. As more information becomes clear about the extent of Ginni’s involvement in the lead-up to the Jan. 6 insurrection and the conflict of interest that Clarence has demonstrated, many Democrats are calling for Clarence to recuse himself from cases. Some are even demanding that he quit the Supreme Court altogether, and here’s why.
Justice Clarence Thomas may have tried to cover up new information about Ginni Thomas and Jan. 6.
As Blavity previously reported, text messages that were obtained by the Jan. 6 committee and leaked to the Washington Post and CBS News reveal that Ginni exchanged multiple messages with then-White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows in the months between the November 2020 election and the insurrection. These messages show Ginni repeating many of the conspiracy theories that former President Donald Trump and his supporters have pushed concerning the election. In the texts, she consistently urges Meadows to help overturn the 2020 election to keep Trump in office.
Trump sued to block the release of these communications but, in January, the Supreme Court ruled 8-1 that the former president’s team had to hand over the records. Clarence was the only vote against the release. Now that the public knows that his own wife’s messages were among the documents that Trump tried to keep secret, Clarence’s lone “no” vote looks suspiciously like an attempt to cover for his wife.
Ginni’s texts are bizarre and disturbing.
The Hill reports that Ginni sent a total of 21 text messages to Meadows between November and January, as well as contacting at least one aide to a conservative Republican House caucus. This revelation demonstrated a new level of involvement in attempts to overturn the 2020 election, after Ginni had previously admitted that she attended the rally on Jan. 6 that preceded the insurrection but denied any role in planning the violent uprising itself.
The content of Ginni’s messages is bizarre and disturbing. She repeats false conspiracy theories about election fraud and at one point falsely claims that Biden and others were being arrested and sent to the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay. Such arrests never happened, but this type of rhetoric echoes similar claims made about Hillary Clinton and other Democratic officials by Q-Anon conspiracy theorists.
What did Clarence know, and when did he know it?
Ginni’s texts do not directly implicate her husband in her political activities. However, the messages do mention her consulting her “best friend” and being encouraged to continue her “stop the steal” activities. The Thomas couple has publicly used the term “best friend” to refer to one another in the past.
Supreme Court justices rarely give public comment on political issues or active cases, and Clarence has made no public statement about what he did or did not know about his wife’s activities. But his lone vote against the release of the documents created the appearance that he may have tried to cover for his wife and possibly himself.
Calls are growing for Clarence to recuse himself or step down.
The text messages make it likely that Ginni will be called to testify before the Jan. 6 committee. And she may be subpoenaed if she refuses to appear willingly. A fight over her testimony could work its way up to the Supreme Court, and other parts of the Jan. 6 investigation will likely be resolved by the court as well.
Given the involvement of both Clarence and Ginni, Democrats and legal experts argue that Clarence should recuse himself from any cases involving the investigation, something he did not do concerning the messages from his wife. Some Democrats are going even further and calling for Clarence to step down from the Supreme Court altogether. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., has called for Clarence to resign or be impeached.
Clarence Thomas should resign.
If not, his failure to disclose income from right-wing organizations, recuse himself from matters involving his wife, and his vote to block the Jan 6th commission from key information must be investigated and could serve as grounds for impeachment.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) March 29, 2022
So far, Clarence doesn’t appear to be going anywhere.
Despite outrage from Democrats and legal ethicists over Clarence’s shady behavior, there is little that can be done to force him to move aside. Supreme Court justices decide whether to recuse themselves from cases, with no formal rules for when or how such a move works. Clarence’s fellow justices can only ask, not demand, that he recuse himself, and they may be afraid to do so for the risk of alienating him in future cases.
Given that justices are appointed for life, the only way to remove someone from the Supreme Court is by an impeachment procedure similar to that used against presidents. Given that Republicans saved President Trump from being removed during his two impeachment trials, it is unlikely that they would vote to remove Clarence, a favorite among conservatives. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has already dismissed calls for Clarence to recuse himself from cases concerning the insurrection and the attempt to overturn the 2020 election. McConnell says that Democrats are trying to “bully” and “pressure” Clarence.
Absent more revelations or a change of heart among Republicans in Congress, Clarence’s job appears safe for now. But with Ginni likely to appear before the Jan. 6 committee, possibly over her objections, both Clarence and Ginni will remain under intense scrutiny for some time.
