John,
It sounds like an April Fools’ Day joke: Did you know the Supreme Court is the only federal court with no code of ethics its judges have to follow, and no rule requiring them to recuse themselves from cases when there are obvious conflicts of interest?
That's right – even if the case in question directly involves, oh, let’s say, their own spouse, there’s no rule requiring that they recuse themselves. It’s totally their choice! And if they choose not to, well then, we just have to trust that they’ll be unbiased, because … well, because they said so.
As ridiculous as this sounds, it’s unfortunately no joke – the 9 members of the Supreme Court are the only federal judges who don’t have to follow even the most basic ethical guidelines when it comes to their judicial conduct.
Republican-appointed Justice Clarence Thomas brilliantly illustrated the problem with this arrangement as the lone dissenter in a recent case involving his wife and the deadly January 6th, 2021 coup attempt at the U.S. Capitol.
When Donald Trump sued to keep White House records from that day out of the hands of J6 Commission investigators, 8 out of 9 justices ruled against him and ordered the White House to hand them over.
Clarence Thomas was the only justice to disagree with the decision, and now, it’s pretty obvious why: He knew that those records had a good chance of implicating his wife, Ginni, in encouraging, and maybe even helping to plan the violent insurrection.
Clarence Thomas's wife, Ginni Thomas
Between the 2020 election and January 6, and for days afterward, Ginni Thomas flooded Trump’s White House Chief of Staff, Mark Meadows, with dozens of texts urging him to do everything in his power to overturn the results of the election.
In the texts, she repeatedly echoed “The Big Lie” that President Biden “stole” the election through widespread voter fraud and encouraged Meadows to tell Trump to refuse to concede while an “army” gathered to help him seize power.
She even said she hoped President Biden, his family, and the rest of Trump’s political enemies – including members of the press and CEOs and employees of social media platforms – would be sent to Guantanamo Bay to be tried and executed for treason!
This is clearly a massive conflict of interest for Clarence Thomas – and it’s not the first time he has been caught using his power to help his radical right-wing family and friends push their agenda, no matter the cost.
Make no mistake – by using his position on the Supreme Court to try to prevent the release of records that ultimately exposed his wife’s participation in the January 6th insurrection, Clarence Thomas has proved he is unfit to serve on the nation’s highest court.
He has also highlighted a terrible flaw in our justice system – one that must be rectified.
That’s why we hope you’ll sign a petition to your Senators and Representative urging them to:
- Call on Clarence Thomas to resign from the Supreme Court immediately
- Impeach Clarence Thomas if he fails to resign, and
- Pass H.R. 1/S. 1, the “For the People” Act, which, in addition to protecting Americans’ voting rights and putting a stop to partisan gerrymandering, would establish a formal code of ethics for the Supreme Court.
Of course, even if the House votes to impeach Clarence Thomas, the fact is, right now we don’t have the votes in the Senate needed to overcome the inevitable Republican filibuster (or better yet, get rid of it).
And while the House has already passed H.R. 1, Senate Republicans have stubbornly blocked any further progress.
That’s why we also hope you’ll consider chipping in to help No Dem Left Behind protect and expand our Senate majority this year, so we can finally expect results when we call on our elected officials to act.
Thanks for taking the time to read about – and act on – this important issue. We’re so grateful for your support.
--The No Dem Left Behind team
