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Republicans are engaging in damage control in response to last week's explosive news that Victoria "Ginni" Thomas, wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, repeatedly pressed White House officials to overturn the 2020 election.
Ginni Thomas, a conservative activist, effectively called for then-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows to join a holy war meant to unlawfully keep Donald Trump as president after he lost the election, according to multiple reports.
Thomas has not recused himself from cases that could involve his wife’s communications with the White House.
They know Thomas' conflicts of interest further threaten whatever semblance of independence the court has left.
The Supreme Court is suffering from a historically low approval rating, and it would seem as though the Ginni Thomas texts won't help in that regard. But Republicans over the weekend stood by her husband. “Nothing to see here!” they essentially claimed.
“Justice Thomas is a great American and an outstanding Justice, Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said in a statement Friday. “I have total confidence in his brilliance and impartiality in every aspect of the work of the Court.”
McConnell’s glowing remarks about Justice Thomas — who’s ensnared in a real impartiality scandal — stand in stark contrast to the baseless, racist allegations of bias he and other Republicans lobbed at Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson during her confirmation hearings last week. Just a day before excusing Justice Thomas’ controversy, McConnell referenced a “deeply invested far-left fan club” he claimed was seeking to get Jackson confirmed. (I've written about why that claim is ridiculous.) But Justice Thomas is literally in bed with the conspiratorial "Stop the Steal" movement, and McConnell doesn’t see an issue with that.
He’s not the only one, of course.
Sen. Rick Scott, chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, also defended Justice Thomas.
“Well first off, I admire and respect Clarence Thomas. I think he’s been a great Supreme Court justice,” the Florida Republican told "Fox News Sunday," adding that Thomas “will always do the right thing.”
And House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., wouldn’t say the reports on Ginni Thomas warrant Thomas recusing himself from cases related to the Jan. 6 insurrection.
“I think Justice Thomas could make his decisions like he’s made every other time," McCarthy said Friday. "It’s his decision based upon law."
Republicans clearly sense the country’s growing dissatisfaction with the conservative-tilted court, and they know Thomas' conflicts of interest further threaten whatever semblance of independence the court has left. GOP leadership have responded by essentially turning into second-rate public relations workers, trying to rehabilitate the image of a justice whose credibility is damaged beyond repair.