Clarence Thomas Probably Shouldn’t Be Ruling on Jan. 6 Committee Cases

The Supreme Court has denied a request from Arizona GOP Chair Kelli Ward to block the Jan. 6 committee from accessing her phone records as part of their investigation, according to a brief decision released Monday.

In the short decision, the court clarified that Justices Clarence Thomas and Sammuel Alito would have granted Ward’s petition for a stay. The former probably shouldn’t be ruling on Jan. 6 committee cases, as his wife, Virginia “Ginni” Thomas, pressured government officials and members of Trump’s staff to overturn the election results, including in Arizona. In the aftermath of the election, Ginni Thomas contacted a total of 29 Arizona lawmakers, urging them to exercise their power to “fight back against fraud,” and to choose an alternative “clean slate of electors.”

Ginni Thomas has been subpoenaed and interviewed by the Jan. 6 committee, to which she claimed she had not discussed the 2020 election or her “post-election activities” with her husband. Despite her testimony, advocates have called for Justice Thomas to recuse himself from cases related to Jan. 6, citing a potential ethics violation considering his wife’s role in the investigation. The justice has refused to acknowledge any such request.

The committee is interested in Ward’s participation in a scheme to replace Electoral College electors with an alternative docket of pro-Trump electors who would subvert the certification of Joe Biden as president. “Congress is adjourned. Send the elector choice back to the legislatures,” Ward tweeted as rioters stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6.

Ward’s election denial extends beyond Trump’s loss in 2020. She tweeted last week that “our elections are not secure,” and discouraged voters from using secure ballot boxes in Maricopa County after a subset of voting centers experienced technical issues with ballot printing, aiding the spread of conspiratorial claims of electoral fraud. Trump, who will reportedly be the focus of the Jan. 6 committee’s final report, is right there with her. “Just another Giant Election Scam,” he posted to Truth Social on Monday. “Wake up America!!!”

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