Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas should not be involved in any cases related to the Capitol riot, according to a member of the House Jan. 6 committee.
Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) talked Sunday on CNN’s State of the Union about concerns surrounding the conservative justice’s wife, Ginni Thomas, having correspondence with people in former President Donald Trump’s orbit about efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
Asked if he agrees with some Democratic colleagues that Justice Thomas should resign or be impeached, Schiff said, “I think that, at a minimum, it suggests — and I think we know enough to say this already — that Justice Thomas, to avoid even the appearance of impropriety, should have nothing to do with any cases relating to Jan. 6, particularly regarding our investigation, because we want our justices to uphold a standard that goes beyond what’s lawful or unlawful to avoid even the appearance of a conflict or impropriety.”
The Supreme Court has already been roped into the Jan. 6 investigation. The high court ruled in January to reject a request by Trump to release White House records to the panel, and Thomas was the lone justice to dissent in siding with the former president.
The House committee investigating the Capitol riot has sent a letter to Ginni Thomas asking to speak with her, Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-MS) announced last week. Thomas told the Daily Caller she “can’t wait to clear up misconceptions,” adding, “I look forward to talking to them.”
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Schiff was asked what questions the panel wants to ask Thomas.
“We want to know what she knows, what her involvement was in this plot to overturn the election,” the congressman said. “She has said that she is willing to come in and testify voluntarily. We’re glad to hear that. Really, anyone with pertinent information, we want to hear from. And so we have a range of questions to ask her. Obviously, I think the committee will be interested in, among other things, whether this was discussed with Justice Thomas, given that he was ruling on cases impacting whether we would get some of this information.”
