A group of Senate Democrats are calling for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas to recuse himself from ruling on Donald Trump's claims that he cannot be prosecuted for trying to overturn the 2020 election due to presidential immunity.
Senator Dick Durbin, the Judiciary Committee chair, and other Democratic allies are arguing that Mr Thomas should recuse himself because of his wife Ginni's outspoken support for Mr Trump's false claims that the 2020 election had been stolen from him.
“There are so many unanswered questions about the relationship of the justice and his family with the Trump administration that I think in the interests of justice, he should recuse himself,” Mr Durbin said, according to The Hill.
He said he had concerns that the conservative-leaning Supreme Court would rule in Mr Trump's favour, effectively making any action he took while president potentially subject to an immunity claim.
“If we say certain people are above the law, I believe it diminishes values in this country,” he said.
Mr Trump has already tried to claim presidential immunity for actions that had nothing to do with his governance, including as a defense against a defamation lawsuit brought against him by E Jean Carroll, an author who accused him of raping her in the mid-1990s.
He made disparaging remarks about her while he was serving as president, and is arguing that the fact that he was president should protect him from her defamation case. A federal appeals court has already rejected that claim.
A similar claim was rejected in Georgia, where Mr Trump claimed immunity from charges that he attempted to overturn the 2020 election in Fulton County. A lower court ruled against him, noting that re-election efforts are not part of a president's duties, and therefore could not fall under the edict. Mr Trump is hoping to reverse that decision through the Supreme Court.
Clarence Thomas, a justice on the US Supreme Court— (Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)
Mr Durbin made the call for Mr Thomas to recuse himself after Chief Justice John Roberts asked the court on Monday to consider issuing a speedy ruling regarding Mr Trump's immunity claims.
Mr Trump's trial for allegedly trying to subvert the 2020 election is scheduled to begin on 4 March.
Senator Richard Blumenthal, another Democrate, also expressed concerns over Mr Thomas's involvement in any ruling concerning Mr Trump, noting his wife's support for Trump at a rally on 6 January, 2021, that preceded the Capitol riot.
He said that the case against Mr Trump "concerns Jan 6, which involved [Mr Thomas's] wife."
Ms Thomas texted Mark Meadows, Mr Trump's then-chief of staff, asking that he contest Joe Biden's 2020 victory, claiming in a text that “Biden and the Left is attempting the greatest Heist of our History.”
Republicans, such as Senator Mike Lee, have called the calls for recusal "absurd."
“They’re not the ones to make that judgment call, nor am I aware of any standard by which he should be required to recuse himself in such a case. That’s absurd,” he said.
