Clarence Thomas

Clarence Thomas Faces Growing Pressure to Step Aside From Jan. 6 Cases

At a closed-door meeting Tuesday, House Democrats raised questions about what they could do to hold Thomas accountable

FILE - In this Sept. 20, 2019, file photo, Supreme Court Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, right, and wife Virginia "Ginni" Thomas arrive for a State Dinner with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and President Donald Trump at the White House in Washington.
AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File

The Democratic-controlled Congress is turning up the heat on Justice Clarence Thomas with calls for him to step back from cases involving Jan. 6, after his wife was found to have actively pressured the Trump White House to change the result of the 2020 election based on false claims of fraud.

At a closed-door meeting Tuesday, House Democrats raised questions about what they could do to hold Thomas accountable.

“It’s up to an individual justice to decide to recuse himself if his wife is participating in a coup,” Speaker Nancy Pelosi told them, according to a source in the room. She noted that under current law, the onus is on justices to hold themselves to account.

On Jan. 6, 2021, supporters of former President Donald Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol during the certification of Electoral College votes. NBCLX Political Editor Noah Pransky brings you a timeline of the day and the aftermath.

Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., and Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Ga., are courting support for the Supreme Court Ethics Act, which would require the creation of a judicial ethics code. And senior lawmakers are publicly pushing Thomas to recuse himself from cases that involve the lobbying activities of his wife, Virginia "Ginni" Thomas.

For more on this story, go to NBC News.

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