Congressional Democrats demand Justice Thomas recuse himself from Capitol riot cases

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and his wife have in recent days found themselves in the eye of an ethics storm over the judge’s wife’s texts urging then-White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows to take steps to overturn the 2020 presidential election results – just days after Justice Thomas was released from the hospital for an infection.

As tension surrounding the justice’s wife continues to build around Washington, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said on Tuesday that Justice Thomas should recuse himself from any cases surrounding the Jan. 6 Capitol riot in order to avoid a conflict of interest.

According to a report from Reuters, Schumer became the highest-ranking Democratic lawmaker to call for Thomas’ recusal after the Washington Post and CBS News published the messages between Virginia Thomas – a conservative activist – and Mark Meadows, former President Trump’s then-chief of staff where Thomas urged the Republican lawmaker to help overturn President Joe Biden’s electoral victory.

"I do think he should recuse himself," Schumer said about Thomas. "The information we have right now raises serious questions about how close Justice Thomas and his wife were to the planning and execution of the insurrection."

In the aftermath of Jan. 6 – when thousands of Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol in hopes of stopping Congress from certifying the election – the House of Representatives Select Committee on Jan. 6 on Monday signaled interest in interviewing Virginia Thomas.

Although Virginia Thomas has consistently denied any conflict of interest between her work and her husband’s position, Justice Thomas was the lone dissenting voice in January when the Supreme Court – which has a 6-3 conservative majority – rejected Trump’s request to block the release of White House records sought by the committee.

On Monday, 24 congressional Democrats sent a letter to Chief Justice John Roberts asking that Thomas recuse himself.