Clarence Thomas Risks Incriminating His Wife in Supreme Court Ruling

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas could incriminate his wife Ginni Thomas if he rules against Donald Trump in the former president's upcoming ballot disqualification case, according to an attorney.

Trump is appealing a Colorado Supreme Court ruling after he was kicked off the GOP primary ballots in that state and in Maine. Legal challenges have argued the former president is ineligible to run for office again under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, which bars officials who have sworn an oath to the U.S. Constitution from holding office if they engage in insurrection.

Trump is facing several legal challenges in other states over his actions around the Capitol riots on January 6, 2021. A four-count federal indictment brought against the Republican by Special Counsel Jack Smith accuses him of working to overturn the results of the 2020 election when supporters of the former president stormed the Capitol during the certification of President Joe Biden's win. Trump has pleaded not guilty to the charges and has repeatedly denied all wrongdoing.

The Maine and Colorado rulings are on hold, pending the Supreme Court decision. Trump, the GOP frontrunner for 2024, has argued the legal challenges against him are politically motivated.

Writing on X, formerly Twitter, former federal prosecutor and legal analyst Glenn Kirschner said the case could create "judicial conflict" for Justice Clarence Thomas because his wife was allegedly involved in Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

Newsweek has contacted Clarence Thomas and Ginni Thomas' lawyer Mark Paoletta, via web forms to comment on this story.

He said: "Want to see a judicial conflict? If Clarence Thomas participates in tomorrow's argument in the Trump disqualification case: if Thomas rules that what happened on 1/6 was an "insurrection" that will further incriminate his wife who may have assisted it. That is an ACTUAL conflict."

In December 2022, Ginni Thomas was questioned by a committee investigating the January 6 riot following reports that she had texted White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, urging him to continue challenging the 2020 election results.

"I regret all of these texts," she said.

"It was an emotional time," she said. "I was probably just emoting, as I clearly was with Mark Meadows, somewhat."

She has denied influencing her husband, who was the sole justice to oppose the disclosure of White House documents to the January 6 committee. She lobbied lawmakers in Arizona and Wisconsin to block the certification of Joe Biden's win in those states to help Trump win, per a report in The Washinton Post from September 2022.

Meanwhile, in a court filing, Trump's legal team has argued that the Constitution's insurrection clause cited to bar the former president from the ballots in Colorado does not apply to him as he was not an "officer" of the United States while president.

In a statement provided to Newsweek, Paul Smith, senior vice president at the nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center said the court case was of "extraordinary importance to our democracy."

He said: "Today, the Supreme Court will hear a case of extraordinary importance to our democracy. It is vital that, one way or another, the Court returns a clear ruling as quickly as possible to avoid any potential confusion in the upcoming presidential election. However the Court decides, election officials deserve time to properly prepare for the upcoming election, and voters deserve time to make an informed decision."