Clarence Thomas faces growing calls to recuse himself from looming Trump immunity case

It's been nearly a quarter of a century since the United States Supreme Court determined the outcome of a presidential election, effectively awarding the 2020 race to now-former President George W. Bush after his deeply contested Florida recount against then-Vice President Al Gore. Now, just under a year before polls close for the 2024 presidential race, the Supreme Court is poised to once again weigh in — perhaps decisively — on who will sit in the Oval Office next. 

At its core, the issue before the court is one of immunity — specifically, whether or not former President Donald Trump enjoys presidential immunity that invalidates the host of 2020 election-related charges brought against him by Special Counsel Jack Smith. Given Trump's thus-far insurmountable lead over the entire Republican field for the party's upcoming presidential nomination, the question of whether or not he can be tried for his attempts to overturn his 2020 loss could very well be one of the deciding factors in both next year's primary, and general elections. 

Complicating matters, however, is the fact that Ginni Thomas, wife of longstanding conservative Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, played a large and at times very public role in advancing the same debunked election interference claims at the heart of Smith's charges against Trump. Given his intimate proximity to the central issue of Smith's charges, a growing chorus of critics has begun demanding Thomas recuse himself from 2020 election-related cases. While there have been suggestions in the past that Thomas' impartiality may be at risk, the court's decision to hear Smith's request for an expedited ruling on Trump's immunity claims has brought that simmering question to a fast-approaching boil.  

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'A chance to do the right thing'

Noting that Chief Justice John Roberts' recently published Judicial Code of Conduct "didn’t address recusal like we did" in a bill passed by the Senate Judiciary Committee, chair Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) stressed to The Hill that with "so many unanswered questions" about the Thomases and their relationship with the Trump administration, Justice Thomas should ultimately recuse himself "in the interests of justice." Durbin's comments came last week, just as eight members of Congress published a letter to Thomas asking him to do the "honorable thing" and step back from Smith's case, arguing that while "faith in the Supreme Court has plummeted," Thomas has an opportunity to "show the American people that the Supreme Court’s recent Code of Conduct is worth more than the paper it is written on."

Thomas "has a chance to do the right thing," Los Angeles Times columnist Jackie Calms said, claiming however that there is "little in Thomas' recent past — very little — to suggest that he will." The Washington Post's Ruth Marcus agreed in part, writing that while "the safer bet is that Thomas won't recuse himself [...] it's not out of the question." And should he not, "it is the entire court whose reputation will suffer." 

Thomas should recuse himself because, ultimately, Ginni Thomas' involvement in Trump's 2020 conduct most likely stemmed from being "one of the millions of Americans who were deceived" by the former president — making her a victim, rather than a perpetrator of a crime, Politico's Ankush Khardori argued. As such, she and her husband both have a "direct reputational stake in the outcome of the proceedings" that calls into question Justice Thomas' impartiality under Roberts' code of conduct. 

'He always does the right thing.'

"The split is partisan" between those arguing over Thomas' recusal, according to The Messenger, which described the looming court hearings as having "Turbocharge[d]" the debate. While Democrats have  pushed for a recusal, Republicans — such as Florida Sen. Rick Scott — have cried foul, insisting as Scott did, that while Thomas is a "class act" who "always does the right thing," it's Democrats who are trying to "taint all of our institutions." Conservative Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley agreed, telling The Messenger his "lefty friends want Justice Thomas to recuse himself on everything," because "they don’t want him to be on the court."

There is a "coordinated campaign to press conservative justices to undercut Trump’s campaign," according to the right-leaning Washington Examiner." The goal, ultimately is to "undermine the legitimacy of the court and a second Trump administration, if there is one."