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Hi,
Last week, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments on whether to give Donald Trump total immunity from criminal prosecution for his role in the January 6 insurrection, and the hearing was absolutely bonkers.
Not only does the Supreme Court's far-right wing majority appear ready to give Trump immunity for January 6 prosecution, they might declare presidents immune from all criminal prosecutions across the board.1
And guess who may well cast the deciding vote? Clarence Thomas. That's right, the husband of Ginni Thomas, who personally attended the January 6 rally and was neck-deep in the fake electors scheme to overturn the election.2
Legal experts have called it "disturbing" and "a disgrace."3,4 Thomas has such a clear, blatant conflict of interest that he would recuse himself from these decisions under any basic rules of judicial ethics. But the Supreme Court has no legally binding code of ethics. So if he refuses to recuse, it is imperative that Congress impeach and remove him from the Supreme Court.
In last week's oral arguments over Trump's claim of immunity from criminal prosecution, Trump's lawyer doubled-down on his infamous claim that the president could order Seal Team Six to assassinate a political rival, but the conservative justices didn't seem the least bit worried.
Justice Alito even argued that giving Trump immunity for his role in the January 6 insurrection would actually discourage him from making a similar insurrection attempt in the future.5
The Supreme Court never should have heard this motion, and Clarence Thomas certainly never should have sat in on oral arguments. He is hopelessly conflicted, and should be impeached if he won't recuse from the final vote.
Demand Progress has mobilized tens of thousands of people to demand Supreme Court ethics reform and accountability for Clarence Thomas. Now we need to turn up the heat.
With gratitude for all that you do,
The team at Demand Progress Action
Sources:
1. Slate, "The Last Thing This Supreme Court Could Do to Shock Us," April 25, 2024.
2. The New Yorker, "Legal Scholars Are Shocked By Ginni Thomas’s “Stop the Steal” Texts," March 25, 2022.
3. ABC News, "'Surprising' and 'disturbing': Legal experts react to Supreme Court arguments on Trump's immunity claim," April 30, 2024.
4. Newsweek, "Clarence Thomas Faces Backlash Over Jan. 6 Case Comments: 'What a Disgrace,'" April 17, 2024.
5. The New Yorker, "King Donald’s Day at the Supreme Court," April 25, 2024.
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