December 20, 2023 Letter to John G. Roberts, Jr. Chief Justice, Supreme Court of the United States from Senator Richard Blumenthal: [snipped] “The Supreme Court is currently weighing whether to decide a critical question in United States v. Trump, a criminal case arising from former President Trump’s role in the January 6 th insurrection. Last week, the United States urged the Court to fast-track its consideration of “a fundamental question at the heart of our democracy”: whether former President Trump is immune from charges of conspiring to obstruct the certification of the 2020 electoral vote and overturn the results of the election. The Court has asked former President Trump to respond on an expedited basis—by today at 4:00 PM. I write to urge you to take appropriate steps to ensure that Justice Clarence Thomas recuses himself from consideration of the petition for certiorari and any future proceedings in United States v. Trump, or otherwise provides the public an “explanation of [his] recusal decision” showing how his participation comports with judicial ethics and federal law. The federal recusal statute requires that any “justice, judge, or magistrate judge … shall disqualify himself in any proceeding in which his impartiality might reasonably be questioned.” In addition, recusal is required when a Justice “or his spouse … is known by the judge to have an interest that could be substantially affected by the outcome of the proceeding; [or i]s to the judge’s knowledge likely to be a material witness in the proceeding.”