Sen. Amy Klobuchar said Sunday that Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas needs to recuse himself from cases on the 2020 presidential election over his wife’s leaked texts, arguing that the “entire integrity of the court is on the line.”
The Minnesota Democrat called for a recusal over the texts sent by Virginia “Ginni” Thomas to former Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows urging him to challenge the outcome of the 2020 presidential election.
“This is unbelievable. You have the wife of a sitting Supreme Court justice advocating for an insurrection, advocating for overturning a legal election to the sitting president’s chief of staff,” Ms. Klobuchar said on ABC’s “This Week.” “And she also knows this election, these cases, are going to come before her husband.”
The senator called it “a textbook case for removing him, recusing him from these decisions.”
The 29 texts sent between Mrs. Thomas and Mr. Meadows first reported Thursday by CBS News and The Washington Post include comments from her such as the “majority knows Biden and the Left is attempting the greatest Heist of our History.”
Ms. Klobuchar said that the Supreme Court needs to respond publicly to the leaked texts, which were reportedly handed over by Mr. Meadows to the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.
“The entire integrity of the court is on the line here, and they had better speak out on this because you cannot have a justice hearing cases related to this election,” said Ms. Klobuchar.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar says Justice Clarence Thomas needs to recuse himself from election cases over his wife’s texts.
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) March 27, 2022
“This is a textbook case for removing him, recusing him from these decisions…The entire integrity of the court is on the line here.” https://t.co/Cghdx0vPeO pic.twitter.com/3IHHIl9crj
She noted that justices, including Justice Thomas, have recused themselves from cases in the past involving family members.
“Not only should he recuse himself, but this Supreme Court badly needs ethics rules,” said Ms. Klobuchar.
She said Chief Justice John G. Roberts should implement such rules.
SEE ALSO: Democrats call for Justice Thomas to recuse from Jan. 6 cases, resign
“I would hope Justice Roberts, who I respect, will stand up and get those ethics rules in place. They’ve got to do that, they should do it themselves,” she said.
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.
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