U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, 73, was back on the bench on Monday following hospitalization last month after experiencing flu-like symptoms and being treated for an infection.
He was seen hearing oral arguments in person. During his absence, the conservative justice remained involved in his work and participated in the “consideration and discussion” of cases while also joining in remotely at times.
Thomas happened to be away from the court as his wife, Ginni Thomas, came under fire after texts between her and Trump administration chief of staff Mark Meadows were released by the House select committee investigating the January 6, 2021, Capitol attack. In the texts, she urged Meadows to do what he could to keep then President Donald Trump in the White House despite Trump losing the 2020 election to President Joe Biden. She also said that she had attended the “Stop the Steal” rally ahead of the Capitol riot, but had left before Trump spoke because she was cold.
Ginni Thomas previously told the Washington Free Beacon, a conservative news outlet, that while she and her husband hold similar views, they are also separate people with separate careers and that they did not discuss cases until the information became public.
Many Democrats called for Thomas to recuse himself in cases regarding the 2020 election.
Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar (Minnesota) went so far as to say on ABC’s This Week, “The entire integrity of the court is on the line here.”
