On Monday, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas recently recused himself from a case related to the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. John Eastman, a former legal adviser to then-President Donald Trump and a former law clerk to Justice Thomas, brought forth the case. This marks a significant departure for Thomas, who had previously participated in a related case and had been criticized for not recusing himself.

Under United States law, federal judges, including Supreme Court justices, are obligated to recuse themselves when they previously participated in a case or have a financial interest in it or when a close relative is involved. A judge is also ethically obligated to do so “in any proceeding in which his impartiality might reasonably be questioned.” But that is subjective and open to interpretation.

Justice Thomas had been under scrutiny for his involvement in a previous case concerning the January 6 attack. In that case, he was the lone justice to signal support for Trump's legal arguments against the release of White House documents to the House committee investigating the events of January 6.

Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) said then that Thomas should not participate in any future cases about the January 6 investigation or the 2024 election, should Trump decide to run again. Wyden said, “Judges are obligated to recuse themselves when their participation would create even the appearance of a conflict of interest. A person with an ounce of commonsense could see that the bar is met here.”

This time, however, Thomas chose to step aside, not explaining his decision, as is customary for Supreme Court justices when they recuse themselves.

The case in question centered on John Eastman's efforts to prevent Chapman University, his former employer, from releasing archived emails related to him. These emails were of interest to the now-defunct January 6 committee. Eastman, a former law professor, had argued that then-Vice President Mike Pence had the authority to refuse to certify the 2020 presidential election results—an argument that has since been discredited.

Justice Thomas has faced ethical questions for not recusing himself from previous cases related to January 6, mainly because his wife, Virginia "Ginni" Thomas, is a conservative political activist who supported Trump's efforts to overturn the election. The recusal in the Eastman case may also be linked to the fact that some of the emails in question reportedly mentioned Thomas as the justice most likely to be receptive to Trump's arguments.

While the case was effectively moot before reaching the Supreme Court, as the committee had already obtained the relevant emails, the recusal raises questions about the ethical standards that justices should adhere to, especially when they have personal or professional connections to the parties involved. Eastman is facing disbarment proceedings in California and has been indicted concerning efforts to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia.

Justice Clarence Thomas's decision to recuse himself from the case involving his former clerk, John Eastman, adds another layer to the ongoing discussions about judicial ethics and the Supreme Court's role in politically charged issues, and the actions of justices like Thomas will remain under scrutiny.