A recent poll has shown that the majority of Americans think Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas should face an investigation regarding his refusal so far to recuse himself from cases related to the 2020 presidential election.
It was recently revealed by the House committee investigating the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol that Thomas' wife, Ginni Thomas, had corresponded via email with John Eastman, an adviser to former President Donald Trump who reportedly pressured former Vice President Mike Pence to block the certification of Joe Biden's 2020 victory. It was already discovered that Ginni Thomas had conversations with former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows in early January 2021.
The poll conducted by non-profit Demand Justice and Heart Research Associates, which said that data was collected before the new information regarding Thomas and Eastman's correspondence was publicized, found that in total, 61 percent of Americans said that they "favor" Congress launching an investigation into Justice Thomas, while just 25 percent said they "oppose" an investigation.
Respondents were asked: "So far, Clarence Thomas has not recused himself from cases about the 2020 election, which may violate a federal law requiring justices to abstain in certain cases. Do you favor or oppose Congress beginning an investigation into Justice Thomas over this issue?"
"Strongly in favor" of an investigation received 38 percent of the participants' votes. "Somewhat favor" received 23 percent. "Somewhat oppose" received 9 percent, while "strongly oppose" received 16 percent. "Not sure" received a total of 14 percent.
They were also asked: "Do you think that Justice Thomas should recuse himself from the future cases about the 2020 election because of his wife's involvement, or do you feel that is not necessary?"
Fifty-three percent of participants said, yes, he should recuse while 30 percent said, no, not necessary. Seventeen percent of those polled said they weren't sure.
A MoveOn petition calling for Thomas' impeachment from the Supreme Court recently passed 230,000 signatures. The petition argued that Ginni Thomas was "actively urging the White House to overturn election results both leading up to January 6 and after the deadly insurrection"
It also noted that Justice Thomas was the lone dissenting vote in a case where Trump had attempted to shield certain documents from the Select Committee. The Court voted 8-1 in January to uphold a lower court's decision that Trump could not assert executive privilege over the documents that the committee was seeking, with Thomas voting against all of his colleagues.
The Demand Justice poll surveyed 1,603 voters from June 7 to 11, 2022.
Newsweek reached out to Demand Justice and Justice Clarence Thomas for comment.
