John, whether or not we can hold Trump accountable for Jan. 6th is now up to the nine Justices of the Supreme Court – including Justice Thomas, despite his wife’s major role in the far right’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
This is a major, clear-cut conflict of interest for Justice Thomas, whose wife Ginni Thomas was involved at the highest levels in the Trump White House’s attempt to overturn President Biden’s win. [1]
How can the public trust Justice Thomas to rule impartially on matters related to Trump’s role in the insurrection when his own family was directly involved?
The answer: we can’t.
Sign the Petition: Justice Thomas must recuse himself from Trump’s immunity case – and ALL other cases related to the 2020 election and the January 6th insurrection >>
Trump is facing four felony charges for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election – which ultimately culminated in the disgraceful and deadly Jan. 6th insurrection. He’s doing everything he can to delay and undermine his trial, including demanding immunity from prosecution because the alleged crimes took place while he was president. [2]
Special Counsel Jack Smith asked the Supreme Court to immediately decide on this issue, so that Trump can’t stall his way out of accountability. But in order to get a truly impartial decision, Justice Thomas must recuse himself.
John, his conflicts of interest are clear as day. After the 2020 election, his wife Ginni pressured lawmakers in Arizona and Wisconsin to overturn the results and was in direct contact with Trump’s chief of staff – urging him in a text to “release the Kraken and save us from the left taking America down.” [3, 4]
But in spite of that, Justice Thomas has already deliberated on several 2020 election-related cases – and in one, he was the only one to side with Trump in his attempt to block congressional investigators from obtaining White House communications, including those his wife Ginni sent. [3]
Add your name if you agree: the public can’t trust Justice Thomas to rule impartially on Trump’s immunity case or any other Jan. 6th-related cases. He must recuse himself willingly – or be required to do so.
John, if we don’t speak out now, Justice Thomas could continue to weigh in on these all-important cases despite his massive conflict of interest – putting the integrity of the Supreme Court, true accountability for Trump, and the fate of our democracy itself at risk.
I hope you’ll join me in speaking out,
Aaron Scherb, Senior Director of Legislative Affairs
and the rest of the Common Cause team
[1] https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/dec/13/clarence-thomas-trump-immunity-case-conflict-of-interest
[2] https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/13/us/politics/trump-immunity-decision-election-case.html
[3] https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-immunity-appeal-jack-smith-supreme-court-clarence-thomas-1851643
[4] https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/03/24/virginia-thomas-mark-meadows-texts/
