In the interview published Monday, she said that while she did attend the Jan. 6 rally to protest President Biden's election, she left before Donald Trump took the stage at noon, and before rioters broke into the U.S. Capitol.
"I was disappointed and frustrated that there was violence that happened following a peaceful gathering of Trump supporters on the Ellipse," she told the
Free Beacon.
The interview was apparently an effort by Mrs. Thomas to deal with critical articles that have appeared recently in
The New York Times and the
New Yorker, describing her extensive conservative political activities. That has led some to suggest that her husband, Justice Thomas, should recuse himself from issues in which his wife has played a prominent role. Those range from her activities on behalf of Trump to her speeches condemning the Affordable Care Act.
Critics have maintained that Justice Thomas should recuse himself from participating in cases that touch on issues his wife has publicly spoken about, even campaigned about. In January, for instance, the Supreme Court rejected Trump's effort to block a congressional subpoena for White House records related to the events surrounding the certification of the 2020 presidential election, and the Jan. 6 riot. The vote was 8-to-1, with Justice Thomas the lone dissenter. In her interview with the Free Beacon, Mrs. Thomas said she and her husband do not discuss Supreme Court cases "until [the court's] opinion are public --and even then, our discussions have always been very general and limited to public information."
The Code of Judicial Conduct For United States Judges, written by the U.S. Judicial Conference, applies to lower court judges, but at least technically, does not apply to Supreme Court Justices. Though the justices generally try to conform to the code, compliance is not mandatory, and to date the high court has resisted establishing its own code of conduct.
There is, however, a federal recusal statute, which does apply to the Supreme Court. It requires justices to recuse themselves from participating in any case that presents a
financial conflict involving close family members. In furtherance of that statute, Supreme Court justices and their spouses are required to file annual financial disclosure forms.
In an interview published Monday, Ginni Thomas said that while she did attend the Jan. 6 rally to protest President Biden's election, she left before Donald Trump took the stage.
www.klcc.org
The Supreme Court justice and his wife battled for years for a more conservative America. New reporting shows how far she was willing to go after Donald Trump’s 2020 election loss.
www.nytimes.com
Behind closed doors, Justice Clarence Thomas’s wife is working with many groups directly involved in controversial cases before the Court.
www.newyorker.com
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This is not new. The controversy over Thomas not recusing himself from cases in which his wife is heavily involved is old news. Thomas is such an ass.
