Appearing on "The Katie Phang Show" early Saturday morning, former federal prosecutor Joyce Vance suggested that members of the Supreme Court, highly conscious of the scrutiny they are under, would likely intercede if Associate Justice Clarence Thomas tries to put his finger on the scales of justice to help Donald Trump.
As Phang, also an attorney, and Vance discussed, Thomas is first in line to review emergency appeals from the 11th Circuit Court where the battle for Donald Trump's absconding with sensitive government documents after he lost re-election is playing out.
Thomas, whose wife, Ginni Thomas, is deeply enmeshed with 2020 election theft conspiracists, is deeply mistrusted by legal observers and Vance claimed any ruling he makes -- particularly favoring the former president -- will invite scrutiny.
That includes from his colleagues on the bench.
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"There is concern circulating about the idea that Clarence Thomas, because he's the justice from the Supreme Court who is assigned to the 11th Circuit which is where all of this Mar-a-Lago drama is unfolding, that Justice Thomas could just summarily make a decision on his own that would favor Donald Trump," host Phang began.
"From what I'm hearing from you that would not be the case and it would end up in front of the entire panel of the Supreme Court if it ended up there at all," she prompted.
"If Justice Thomas were to render a decision in the former president's favor at this point it would so starkly damage what is left of the Supreme Court's integrity and reputation with the public that it is unimaginable to believe that the court would permit that to happen," Vance replied.
"Justice Thomas himself has shown the inclination here to act in the way that a judge normally acts with these sorts of review requests," she added. "As you point out there is nothing nefarious about the fact that he is the justice who this case came to. He is the justice allotted to the 11th Circuit, he comes from Savannah, Georgia and the court tries to keep justices in their home areas."
"So while he has the option of issuing an in-chamber opinion on this matter it is far more likely that once the briefs are filed it is either dismissed out of hand or referred to the shadow docket," she predicted.
Watch below:
MSNBC 10 08 2022 07 20 39youtu.be
