Congressman Dan Goldman Demands Justice Clarence Thomas Recuse Himself from Upcoming Trump Election Interference Case

Read the Letter Here

Washington, DC – Congressman Dan Goldman (NY-10) joined Congressman Hank Johnson (GA-04) to demand that Justice Clarence Thomas recuse himself from ruling on United States of America v. Donald J. Trump in which former President Donald Trump is charged with conspiring to overturn the legitimate results of the 2020 presidential election, conspiring to obstruct the certification of the electoral vote, and actually obstructing the certification of the electoral vote. Justice Thomas has already recused himself from an appeal by ex-Trump lawyer John Eastman in a case on the January 6 insurrection.

“We know through public reporting and through Congressional investigations that your wife, Virginia (“Ginni”) Thomas was intimately involved in Mr. Trump’s alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election and to obstruct its certification – the very conspiracies at issue in this case,” the members wrote.

Following Donald Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 election, public reporting has revealed that Ginni Thomas, Justice Thomas’ wife, played a pivotal role in urging multiple states to overturn their results in the election as well as exchanging dozens of text messages with Trump’s Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, urging him to continue their scheme of election fraud.

“These details about your wife’s activities raise serious questions about your ability to be or even to appear impartial in any cases before the Supreme Court involving the 2020 election and the January 6th insurrection,” the members continued. “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.”

Congressman Dan Goldman has repeatedly called on Chief Justice John Roberts to establish an ethics counsel within Supreme Court to standardize ethics procedures, advise justices on ethical issues, and prevent ethical misjudgements.

Congressman Goldman is also a cosponsor of the Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal, and Transparency (SCERT) Act and the Judicial Ethics and Anti-Corruption Act to formally establish a code of conduct for Supreme Court Justices.

Read the letter here or below:

Dear Justice Thomas,

This week, Special Counsel Jack Smith asked the Supreme Court to decide a key question in the case of United States of America v. Donald J. Trump, a case in which Mr. Trump is charged with conspiring to overturn the legitimate results of the 2020 presidential election, conspiring to obstruct the certification of the electoral vote, and actually obstructing the certification of the electoral vote. In this week’s filing, Mr. Smith asked the Supreme Court to grant certiorari to decide “Whether a former President is absolutely immune from federal prosecution forcrimes committed while in office or is constitutionally protected from federal prosecution when he has been impeached but not convicted before the criminal proceedings begin.” The Supreme Court has directed Mr. Trump to file a response to the request for certiorari. For the reasons explained below, we strongly implore you to exercise your discretion and recuse yourself from this and any other decisions in the case of United States v. Trump.

Faith in the Supreme Court has plummeted, and fewer than half of all Americans trust the Supreme Court. Public perception is growing that the Supreme Court flouts the rules, in large part due to your recently reported ties to and luxury travel with billionaire Republican donors that you hid for decades. The public pressure has grown so intense, that last month the Supreme Court announced a formal—though unenforceable—Code of Conduct. You signed the Code, publicly proclaiming that you subscribe to it. In Cannon 3B, the Code states that “A Justice should disqualify himself or herself in a proceeding in which the Justice’s impartiality might reasonably be questioned, that is, where an unbiased and reasonable person who is aware of all relevant circumstances would doubt that the Justice could fairly discharge his or her duties.” The Code details such instances, including those in which “The Justice or Justice’s spouse...is known by the Justice:...(iii) to have an interest that could be substantially affected by the outcome of the proceeding; or (iv) likely to be a material witness in the proceeding.”

We know through public reporting and through Congressional investigations that your wife, Virginia (“Ginni”) Thomas was intimately involved in Mr. Trump’s alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election and to obstruct its certification – the very conspiracies at issue in this case. Your wife not only attended the pro-Trump rally that preceded the January 6th attack on the United States Capitol, she was one of nine board members for a conservative political group that helped lead the “Stop the Steal” movement. She traded at least 29 text messages with Mr. Trump’s Chief of Staff (Mark Meadows) in which she urged him to “pursue unrelenting efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election,” starting immediately after Election Day 2020 and ending only days after the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol. In these text messages, your wife pleaded with Mr. Meadows to continue the fight to overturn the election results, calling the election a “heist” and saying in one message: “Sounds like Sidney and her team are getting inundated with evidence of fraud. Make a plan. Release the Kraken and save us from the left taking America down.” Your wife also pressed Arizona and Wisconsin lawmakers to overturn President Biden’s 2020 victory, urging them to set aside President Biden’s popular-vote victory and to choose their own presidential electors, despite state law to the contrary. These details about your wife’s activities raise serious questions about your ability to be or even to appear impartial in any cases before the Supreme Court involving the 2020 election and the January 6th insurrection.

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.

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