Clarence Thomas 'should be forced to recuse' from these cases: Ex-prosecutor
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has been accused of numerous ethics violations as Americans learn more about his life behind the bench, and those new revelations warrant recusal from certain cases, a former federal prosecutor said on Saturday.
The most recent revelation involving Thomas' case came when ProPublica reported that he had "secretly participated in Koch network donor events."
During the event, the justice went to a private dinner for the network’s donors, the reporting says.
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"Thomas has attended Koch donor events at least twice over the years, according to interviews with three former network employees and one major donor," it states. "The justice was brought in to speak, staffers said, in the hopes that such access would encourage donors to continue giving."
This purported conduct at least warrants Thomas' recusal from specific cases, according to former federal prosecutor Shan Wu. He wrote in a piece on Saturday that Thomas once announced his mind had changed 15 years after an initial opinion in a case involving Chevron.
"What changed? One possible influence on the justice’s heart and mind is his previously secret history of involvement with the conservative political organization—known as the Koch network—founded by the libertarian billionaires Charles and David Koch," Wu wrote for The Daily Beast. "The Koch network has been a prime mover in the effort to whittle back and overturn the Chevron case as part of a conservative agenda to cut back on what they perceive as government overreach."
To solve the issue, Wu says, Thomas must recuse himself.
"Thomas should be forced to recuse himself from hearing cases brought by groups that he helps fundraise for and who fly him on private jets. He may even need to be investigated by Congress or the Justice Department for his failure to make timely and full disclosures," the ex-prosecutor wrote. "But none of that can happen so long as there is no transparency about who Thomas helps and who helps him. It all starts with transparency."