House Democrats call on Thomas to recuse himself from Trump immunity case

Several House Democrats have signed onto a letter amping up calls for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas to recuse himself from a case reviewing whether former President Trump is immune from prosecution over charges of trying to overturn the 2020 presidential election results.

“[W]e strongly implore you to exercise your discretion and recuse yourself from this and any other decisions in the case of United States v. Trump,” the group of Democrats, which included Reps. Hank Johnson (Ga.), Jamie Raskin (Md.), Sheila Jackson Lee (Texas) and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.), wrote in the letter obtained by The Hill on Monday.

Johnson serves as ranking member of the Judiciary subcommittee on courts. The letter, first reported by The Washington Post, was also signed by Democratic Reps. Madeleine Dean (Pa.), Gerry Connolly (Va.), Dan Goldman (N.Y.) and Jasmine Crockett (Texas).

Senate Democrats sent a similar letter to Thomas last week, urging him to remove himself from considering the case.

The Hill has reached out to Thomas for comment.

Special counsel Jack Smith has asked the court to decide “Whether a former President is absolutely immune from federal prosecution for crimes 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 request puts the justices at the center of a pivotal election-year battle.

The House Democrats, in their letter dated Dec. 15, noted Thomas’s wife, Ginni, was an active supporter of Trump’s false claims that the 2020 election was stolen and pushed Trump allies on the issue. The panel that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol interviewed Ginni Thomas last year and said she reiterated the false claims.

In their letter calling for Justice Thomas to recuse himself, the House Democrats also pointed to the court’s new code of conduct, which was adopted amid scrutiny surrounding reports on luxury travel and other previously unreported perks that he and other justices had received.

The Supreme Court last month approved the new ethics code, with justices pledging to recuse themselves when “impartiality might reasonably be questioned.” The ethics code has been met with mixed reviews from Democrats, who have highlighted it lacks an enforcement mechanism.

“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,” the House members wrote in their letter to Thomas.