Wyden says Justice Thomas should recuse himself from any Jan. 6 cases

Sen. Ron Wyden called on Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas to recuse himself from any cases pertaining to the investigation of the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol or future cases involving former President Donald Trump in the wake of growing ethics concerns about his spouse, Ginni Thomas.

Reports emerged Thursday evening regarding his wife, who previously sent several messages to former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows about overturning the 2020 election.

“At the bare minimum, Justice Thomas needs to recuse himself from any case related to the January 6th investigation, and should Donald Trump run again, any case related to the 2024 election," Wyden, a Democrat from Oregon, wrote in a statement to the Washington Examiner. "Judges are obligated to recuse themselves when their participation in a case would create even the appearance of a conflict of interest. A person with an ounce of commonsense could see that bar is met here."

THOMAS SHOULD NOT RECUSE HIMSELF ON JAN. 6 SUPREME COURT CASES, MCCARTHY SAYS

Ginni Thomas, a longtime conservative activist, insisted to the Washington Free Beacon this month that she and her husband keep their careers completely separate from one another. “Clarence doesn’t discuss his work with me, and I don’t involve him in my work,” she said.

The 73-year-old justice was discharged Friday after spending a week in the hospital, though it's not immediately clear whether he plans to resume attending in-person oral arguments when the high court resumes next week.

Other Democrats have echoed calls for accountability, including Sen. Richard Blumenthal of New York, who argued Thomas should consider "voluntarily appearing" before the House Jan. 6 committee to resolve inquiries about his wife's text messages with Meadows, according to CBS News reporter Robert Costa.

Meanwhile, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy argued Friday that Thomas should not have to recuse himself from cases related to the Jan. 6, 2021, riot that occurred in the wake of former President Donald Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

"No, I think Justice Thomas can make his decisions like he's made them every other time,” McCarthy told reporters during a press conference at a House GOP retreat.

Notably, Thomas was the one justice who voted to deny Trump's request for a stay of a lower court mandate that his presidential records be turned over to the House Jan. 6 committee.

One of the House's most liberal Democrats, Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar, said Thomas "needs to be impeached" in response to his wife's text messages emerging.

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The only Supreme Court justice to have been impeached was Justice Samuel Chase in 1805 for conduct on the bench that was deemed overly partisan. He was acquitted by the Senate.