While facing ethics concerns following the revelation that his wife sent at least 29 texts to former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows leading up to the Jan 6 insurrection, US Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has been discharged from Sibley Memorial Hospital, after a weeklong stay.
Thomas, 73, was admitted on Friday, March 18, with flu-like symptoms. The Court announced his stay in a statement on Sunday, saying that he was being treated with intravenous antibiotics and was expected to be out “in a day or two.”
Thomas stayed in the hospital for five additional days.
During the intervening time between Thomas’ expected release and today, the court refused to provide more details, other than to confirm that Thomas did not have COVID-19.
His discharge comes shortly after bombshell revelations that his wife, Virginia ‘Ginni’ Thomas, sent at least 29 text messages to then-White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, attempting to convince him to commit a crime by illegally overthrowing the 2020 election results.
While Ginni Thomas in her texts never mentioned her husband directly, it has brought into question how unbiased a Supreme Court Justice can be in any case involving former President Donald Trump or the deadly January 6 insurrection.
In January, the court declined Trump’s request to block the release of presidential documents related to the January 6 riots. Thomas was the court's lone dissenter.
In January, the court declined Trump’s request to block the release of presidential documents related to the January 6 riots. Thomas was the court's lone dissenter.
Senator Ron Wyden, a Democrat from Oregon, remarked Friday that the justice must recuse himself from any cases involving the Jan 6 riots and any cases concerning the 2024 election, if Trump runs again.
Justice Thomas was appointed by former US President George H. W. Bush in 1991. He is the second-oldest member of the court and will become the oldest after Justice Stephen G Breyer, 83, retires. Breyer plans to retire this summer after his replacement is confirmed. President Joe Biden nominated Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, 51, to be his replacement. Her confirmation began earlier this week and is ongoing.