One thing worth noting: This isn’t just coming from liberal scholars.
Sreohen Gillers, a longtime professor of legal ethics at NYU, spoke to NYT’s Adam Liptak about whether Clarence Thomas violated federal recusal law by participating in cases related to Jan. 6 or the 2020 election.
— What the law states: “any justice, judge or magistrate judge of the United States shall disqualify himself in any proceeding in which his impartiality might reasonably be questioned.”
“A more specific provision concerning relatives, including spouses, might also apply to his situation,” writes Liptak. “Judges should not participate, the law says, in proceedings in which their spouse has ‘an interest that could be substantially affected by the outcome of the proceeding.’”
— Gillers said the word “interest” was the key: “By writing to Meadows, who was chief of staff and active in the ‘Stop the Steal’ movement, she joined the team resisting the results of the election,” he said. “She made herself part of the team and so she has an interest in the decisions of the court that could affect Trump’s goal of reversing the results.”