Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas bowed out of a case at the center of a congressional committee’s power to investigate, an announcement made on the first day of a new term where the justices face increased scrutiny from Congress and the public over ethics rules.
The court, without Thomas, declined Monday to hear an appeal from attorney John Eastman, who sought to overturn a lower-court decision that gave a House select committee access to his emails with former President Donald Trump.
Thomas did not explain his decision to recuse from the case, and did not have to, one of several issues that backers of an ethics code at the court have sought to change.
