Although much of the world was focused on Ukraine, Republicans “won” some points with independent voters during the confirmation hearings of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson. According to polling after the hearing, independent and conservatives voter are less likely to support a vote for Judge Brown Jackson. Other liberals are mad at Democrats for the handling of the hearing, for not playing the race card enough. So Democrats and liberals went back to their tried and true attacks on black conservative Justice Clarence Thomas. However, this attack was extreme even for them. They are calling for Justice Thomas to recuse himself or even resign because of texts his wife, Ginni Thomas, sent. As RNLA Chair Harmeet Dhillon stated:
“Ginni Thomas is a private citizen who is entitled to her own opinions independent of her husband,” Harmeet Dhillon, chair of the Republican National Lawyers Association, told the DCNF. “To impart to a spouse his wife’s private conversations as a recusal factor is both unprecedented and grossly sexist.”
“Ms. Thomas is neither a litigant, nor a lawyer, nor even a material witness, to any case presently before the court, nor is she likely to be, despite how hard the left is straining to make this sexist trope into an issue,” Dhillon continued.
As Republican Senate Leader Mitch McConnell explained:
“Far-left House members are talking about dusting off their party’s impeachment addiction for a third consecutive year. They’re boasting about how they’ve successfully bullied their senior leadership into impeachment in the past.
“Make no mistake. This performative outrage is not in earnest. This is a political hit, part of liberals’ yearslong quest to delegitimize the Court. All because our laws and Constitution occasionally inconvenience Democrats’ radical agenda.
“This isn’t new. It’s a tired old tactic. In recent years, the far left has issued near-constant demands for the late Justice Scalia, Justice Alito, Justice Gorsuch, Justice Kavanaugh, and Justice Barrett to recuse themselves from various issues where the far left feared they might not like a certain ruling. All based on spurious accusations about fake ethical problems or partiality.
“This new inappropriate pressure campaign is just a continuation of this well-worn pattern. It has no basis in Justice Thomas’s decades of impeccable service on the bench. The Justice and the entire Court should feel free to ignore it.
“Justice Clarence Thomas is a great American and an outstanding Justice. He is faithful to the text of our laws and Constitution. His writing is clear. His reasoning is rigorous and transparent.
“I have total confidence in Justice Thomas’s impartiality in every aspect of the work of the Court.
“Justice Thomas is an exemplary jurist who has modeled fidelity to the rule of law for more than 30 years and counting. I hope none of the Justices give any of the radical left’s various pressure campaigns a minute’s thought.”
Even as a legal and not political matter, the attack is without merit. As RNLA Chair Harmeet Dhillon said in a different article:
Harmeet Dhillon, chair of the Republican National Lawyers Association, told the DCNF the attacks on Thomas created a recusal standard that could not reasonably be maintained.
“If these are the new rules, let’s require all justices to disclose all the private opinions of all their family members on all issues in the news, and see how that works out as a new recusal framework,” Dhillon said.
“The very idea is absurd, and it’s time to move on from this distraction and focus on making sure we have a Supreme Court with nine justices committed to upholding the laws of the land, and interpreting them wisely and fairly – as Justice Thomas has always done,” Dhillon told the DCNF.
The RNLA stands with Leader McConnell and its Chair Harmeet Dhillon in supporting Justice Thomas.