The move from Thomas, who did not refer the case to the full bench and acted alone in the decision, prompted calls for his impeachment and accusations that the top judge was acting anti-democratically.
“Hard to overstate how antidemocratic and delegitimizing this move is. The husband of a key insurrectionist blocks the testimony of a key witness in an election interference probe,” activist Max Berger tweeted on Monday. “Democrats should launch impeachment proceedings against Clarence Thomas. He’s not fit to serve.”
Earlier in the day, Thomas agreed to freeze the order on Graham, whose legal team argued he could not be questioned about his calls to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and his staff because they were part of his work as a senator and that answering any such questions is unconstitutional under the speech or debate clause that protects legislators from certain law enforcement actions connected to those duties.
Graham filed the request to Thomas, who has jurisdiction over emergency matters from Georgia, on Friday.
His requested testimony is part of the special grand jury investigation being led by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who has indicated she would like to question Graham on those calls to state election officials. Earlier this month, CNN reported that Willis has already secured testimony from former Republican Senator Kelly Loeffler of Georgia and former White House Counsel Pat Cipollone.
Thomas’ Monday order is known as an “administrative stay,” which will give the court time to consider the case before ruling on Graham’s appeal, which is expected to come sometime after Thursday evening.
Twitter users slammed Thomas’ decision on Monday, calling it “corruption” and questioning if there was “honesty” left in the judicial branch.
“In a truly STUNNING act of corruption, Justice Clarence Thomas unilaterally grants Lindsey Graham’s request to temporarily shield him from testifying in the probe into the illegal efforts to steal the 2020 election in Georgia. RT TO DEMAND THOMAS BE IMPEACHED!” one user wrote.
“Jan 6 Organizer Ginni Thomas’s husband, SCOTUS Justice Clarence Thomas, intervened allowing Sen. Graham Lindsey to avoid Grand Jury testimony on Trump’s attempt to overturn the 2020 election. Where is the ‘Honesty’ in our current Supreme Court?” another said.
Thomas has been under immense scrutiny since it was reported that his wife Ginni Thomas, a conservative political activist, urged White House and state officials to help overturn the 2020 presidential election. Following those reports and subsequent investigations, Thomas has faced calls to recuse himself from any case related to the January 6 Capitol riot.
Newsweek reached out to the Supreme Court for comment.
