Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas met with Senate candidate Herschel Walker in his first quasi-public appearance since he was discharged from the hospital last month.
Walker, a Republican candidate running to unseat Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock, came to Washington, D.C., this week to receive the Horatio Alger Award, according to a spokesperson, who posted a photo of the pair during the event.
“Great to be with an incredible Supreme Court Justice and an even better man, Clarence Thomas. Justice Thomas is a strict Constitutionalist who has dedicated his life to law and order,” Walker tweeted Friday.
CLARENCE THOMAS RELEASED FROM HOSPITAL AFTER WEEK OF ABSENCE FROM HIGH COURT
Herschel got to spend time with Justice Thomas while in DC to receive the Horatio Alger Award this week. ?? #gapol pic.twitter.com/yj55Jewqkb
— Mallory Blount (@malloryblount) April 8, 2022
Thomas, 73, was treated with intravenous antibiotics after he began experiencing “flu-like symptoms” last month and was discharged from the hospital on March 25. He was not physically present for two weeks of high court oral arguments but took part remotely during his second week of absence.
Amid Thomas’s hospitalization, reports emerged regarding his wife, Ginni Thomas, who previously exchanged several messages in November 2020 through January 2021 to former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows about overturning President Joe Biden’s electoral victory.
The revelation of the most senior justice’s spouse communicating with former President Donald Trump’s administration personnel prompted some Democratic lawmakers to call on Thomas to recuse himself from cases related to the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol, cases surrounding future 2024 elections, and even calls for him to step down or be impeached.
On Wednesday, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse led a group of Democratic lawmakers in announcing a bill that would force the Supreme Court to adopt ethics standards, such as recusal requirements for justices with financial and personal connections to parties involved in cases before the court.
But any consequences for Thomas are unlikely, as Republicans have defended his decision not to recuse himself and cited a justice’s autonomy to make recusal decisions for themselves.
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Unlike lower-court federal judges, Supreme Court justices are not bound by the same code of conduct and are allowed to decide whether recusal is the appropriate choice in cases that might raise ethical concerns.
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.
Walker, a University of Georgia football star in the early 1980s, is the likely Republican nominee to challenge Warnock. The seat is key to Republican efforts to win the Senate majority in 2022, which would require a net of only one seat in the 50-50 chamber.
