Eight House Democrats have requested Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas to recuse himself from contemplating whether or not Donald Trump is topic to prison fees introduced by particular counsel Jack Smith over the previous president’s quest to overturn the 2020 election outcomes.
Rep. Hank Johnson of Georgia spearheaded the letter despatched Friday to the senior justice, saying that the judiciary’s code of conduct suggests he ought to recuse himself as a result of his spouse, Virginia Thomas, advocated overturning the 2020 election.
Mrs. Thomas is a conservative activist who exchanged textual content messages with Trump allies aiming to overturn President Biden’s electoral victory. She additionally attended the pro-Trump rally on Jan. 6, 2021, however left earlier than the mob headed to the U.S. Capitol, the place the protest turned violent.
“If you want to show the American people that the Supreme Court’s recent Code of Conduct is worth more than the paper it is written on, you must do the honorable thing and recuse yourself from any decisions in the case of United States v. Trump,” Mr. Johnson wrote.
The excessive court docket lately adopted a code of ethics after strain from Democratic politicians. In the previous, the justices usually had adopted the identical code of conduct as decrease courts.
Mr. Johnson famous within the letter that the code says justices ought to recuse themselves from a authorized matter when a partner has an “interest that could be substantially affected by the outcome of the proceeding” or may “likely to be a material witness in the proceeding.”
House Democratic lawmakers interviewed Mrs. Thomas of their probe of the Jan. 6 protest. She mentioned she regretted texting former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows about reversing the election outcomes; in a single message she known as the election a “heist.”
Last week, Mr. Smith petitioned the excessive court docket to resolve if Mr. Trump can declare presidential immunity from prison fees as the previous president’s authorized staff has argued.
The trial is scheduled for March, nevertheless it may very well be delayed relying on the appeals course of.
In the case, Mr. Trump is charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to hinder an official continuing, obstruction of an official continuing and conspiracy towards the appropriate to vote.
A federal decide in Washington has dominated towards Mr. Trump’s declare of presidential immunity.
Mr. Smith bypassed the federal appeals court docket in his request to have the justices shortly resolve the problem.
It would take 4 justices to vote in favor of Mr. Smith’s request for the case over presidential immunity to be scheduled for oral arguments.
