Virginia Thomas's texts are yet another reason why the Supreme Court needs reform

As the Jan. 6 committee continues to uncover texts, emails and phone calls to and from GOP legislators, executive officials and now even a wife of a Supreme Court justice, it has become increasingly clear just how out of touch many of those at the top of the Republican Party are while also highlighting just how broken our political system is. 

The uncovered texts sent by Virginia Thomas, wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, to Trump White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows in the lead up to and during the insurrection are some of the most concerning discoveries by the congressional committee tasked with uncovering the full story of what occurred on Jan. 6. 

The texts sent by Virginia Thomas charge Biden and the left with “attempting the greatest Heist of our History,” while sharing a baseless and absurd conspiracy theory propagated by Alex Jones that ballots had been somehow watermarked as proof to show they had been fraudulently cast for Biden. Thomas went even further, seeming to support the violence which would appear at the Capitol writing, “the most important thing you can realize right now is that there are no rules in war.”

Virginia Thomas’s text shows us nothing new about the right's growing instability (the president and his thousands of violent supporters showed us just how absurd they are), but they do give us a glimpse into the broken nature of Washington.

While Virginia Thomas’s texts may not have greatly impacted anything leading to the attack or the White House’s reaction, it raises questions about the sanctity and impartiality of the Supreme Court and brings her and her husband’s past ethical blotches to the forefront. For years, Virginia Thomas has been a key player in the far-right conservative movement, working closely with a consulting firm that would openly advertise her insider status. 

Despite her deeply political involvement with many conservative groups, Justice Thomas has frequently failed to recuse himself of cases which involve organizations or issues closely associated with his wife. 

Virginia Thomas’s connections and beliefs in absurd far-right conspiracies and groups calls into question how much sway her passionate voice has with her husband, one of the most powerful people in the nation, especially as some of her texts mention her talking about the “fraudulent election” with her “best friend,” a possible code name for her husband. Would Clarence Thomas vote to overturn the election? Would the justice ignore the Constitution so his wife could get a political and potentially financial win?

Justices are supposedly required to recuse themselves of any cases where there is a strong possibility that the judge’s decision will be biased. In recent years, nearly every other justice on the court, both liberal and conservative, has failed to recuse themselves in various cases in which there were clear appearances of a conflict of interest, suggesting the issue of court ethics is a problem much bigger than just the Thomas’.

Although our legislators are far from being perfectly transparent and accountable, we can often see what groups donate to their campaigns and why they may cast a given vote. If we perceive there to be corruption, then we can vote them out – a process that does not exist for a justice on the Supreme Court. 

A judge in a small criminal court has more laws and regulations regarding ethics than a justice on the Supreme Court. Robust and enforced ethics codes should be central to a court that the American people can trust. With the conservative movement shifting farther to the right, the American people are rightfully growing more distrustful of our political institutions, and Virginia Thomas’ involvement in the Jan. 6 incident and her relationship to the Supreme Court exemplify both.