所谓的二等兵消息从最高法院大法官克拉伦斯·托马斯的妻子吉尼到第一自由研究所的领导人，该研究所自称是美国最大的宗教自由组织，引发了民主党高层的批评浪潮，包括要求大法官在未来涉及该组织的案件中回避。
第一自由经常向高等法院请愿，是许多具有里程碑意义的保守派胜利的背后，包括那些保护公立学校教师能力的胜利为工作祈祷;帮助家庭获得国家资助宗教学校;并且，迫使私人雇主更加通融宗教仪式.
根据ProPublica获得的一段录音，在7月底与支持者的电话会议上，第一自由首席执行官凯利·沙克尔福德(Kelly Shackelford)大声朗读了吉妮·托马斯(Ginni Thomas)的一封电子邮件，对该组织反对白宫推动最高法院任期限制和可强制执行的道德准则的努力表示欢迎，部分原因是去年她的丈夫与一名共和党亿万富翁之间未披露的财务关系和豪华旅行引发的争议。
"你们让许多评委扬帆起航"吉尼·托马斯据ProPublica报道，这封信显然是写给第一自由党领袖凯利·沙克尔福德的。“我能不能告诉你，非常非常感谢你。”
批评者说，这条信息表明克拉伦斯和金尼·托马斯感激第一自由，并直接受益于它的倡导。
参议院司法委员会主席参议员迪克·德宾说:“吉尼·托马斯报道的评论很有问题。”。在周一的一份声明中。“她在国会作证说，她和托马斯大法官不会讨论彼此的工作。这种辩护现在听起来很空洞。无论是夸大她对法官道德改革观点的了解，还是说实话，她代表司法官员的明显评论给托马斯大法官造成了明显的不当行为。"
德宾之前曾呼吁托马斯不要参与1月6日国会大厦骚乱的案件，因为他妻子的激进主义，他最近要求高级保守派法官也回避未来涉及第一自由的案件。
这对夫妇没有回应ABC新闻的置评请求。大法官此前拒绝回应民主党人提出的回避要求。第一自由研究所目前没有最高法院正在审理的案件。
吉尼·托马斯和这对夫妇的共和党盟友认为，托马斯大法官一直是左翼诽谤运动的目标，旨在破坏保守派占多数的法院的可信度。他们反对改变最高法院的结构和职能，并坚持认为该机构必须免受立法者的干预。
沙克尔福在录音中说，“进步的、极左的人们，被几个案件弄得心烦意乱”，想要改变法院，“真正摧毁法院，最高法院”。
今年夏天，法院的两名成员——埃琳娜·卡根法官和凯坦吉·布朗·杰克森法官——公开表示支持采用一种强制机制来确保遵守道德准则。首席大法官约翰·罗伯茨以宪法为由反对这一举措，但去年公开表示应对此事进行研究。他的立场没有改变。
“前进的道路是明确的:首席大法官罗伯茨可以使用他现有的权力来实施有约束力的道德改革，”德宾说。“直到他这样做，我会继续推动通过我们的[最高法院道德、改革和透明度]法实现美国人民和我们的民主所要求的道德改革。“这项措施在2023年获得了参议院司法委员会的批准，但尚未得到参议院全体成员的投票。
当托马斯大法官签署了法院的2023年末的道德准则该条款规定，法官必须避免表面上的利益冲突，但它不适用于配偶，因为他们不被禁止以公民身份参与政治活动。吉妮·托马斯(Ginni Thomas)数十年来一直公开倡导保守事业，并高调支持“阻止偷窃”努力，以推翻2020年总统大选的结果。
一些法律学者我曾指出，吉尼·托马斯在法院相关立法问题上采取了一种立场，这种立场长期以来一直为法院成员所共享，并被公开表达出来，这些成员来自意识形态的两个极端。
Justice Clarence Thomas faces new recusal demand after wife's alleged message to conservative group
An alleged privatemessagefrom Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas' wife Ginni to the leader of First Liberty Institute, which describes itself as the nation's largest religious liberty organization, has triggered a wave of criticism from top Democrats, including a new call for the justice to recuse himself from future cases involving that organization.
First Liberty frequently petitions the high court and is behind a number of landmark conservative victories, including those protecting the ability of public school teachers topray on the job; helping families obtain state funding to attendreligious schools; and, forcing private employers to be more accommodating ofreligious observance.
On a late July conference call with supporters, according to a recording obtained by ProPublica, First Liberty CEO Kelly Shackelford is heard reading aloud an email from Ginni Thomas cheering on the group's efforts to oppose a White House push to legislate Supreme Court term limits and an enforceable ethics code, prompted in part by controversy last year over her husband's previously undisclosed financial ties and luxury travel with a GOP billionaire.
"YOU GUYS HAVE FILLED THE SAILS OF MANY JUDGES,"Ginni Thomasapparently wrote to First Liberty head Kelly Shackelford, according to ProPublica. "CAN I JUST TELL YOU, THANK YOU SO, SO, SO MUCH."
Critics said the message suggests Clarence and Ginni Thomas are beholden to First Liberty and benefit directly from its advocacy.
"The reported comments by Ginni Thomas are deeply problematic," said Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., in a statement Monday. "She's testified before Congress that she and Justice Thomas do not discuss each other's work. That defense now rings hollow. Whether she's inflating her knowledge of judges' views on ethics reform or telling the truth, her apparent comments on behalf of judicial officers create a clear appearance of impropriety for Justice Thomas."
Durbin, who has previously called on Thomas to sit out cases stemming from the Jan. 6 Capitol riot because of his wife's activism, newly demanded the senior conservative justice also recuse himself from future cases involving First Liberty.
The couple did not respond to ABC News' request for comment. The justice has previously declined to address Democrats' demands for recusal. First Liberty Institute does not currently have an active case under consideration by the Supreme Court.
Ginni Thomas and the couple's Republican allies believe Justice Thomas has been the target of a left-wing smear campaign aimed at undermining the conservative-majority court's credibility. They oppose changes to the Supreme Court's structure and function and insist the institution must remain insulated from lawmaker meddling.
"People in the progressive, extreme left, upset by just a few cases," want to change the Court to "really destroy the court, the Supreme Court," Shackelford says in the recording.
Two members of the court this summer – Justice Elena Kagan and Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson – publicly came out in favor of adopting an enforcement mechanism to ensure compliance with the ethics code.Chief Justice John Robertsopposes such a step on constitutional grounds but said publicly last year the matter should be studied. His position has not changed.
"The path forward is clear: Chief Justice Roberts can use his existing power to implement binding ethics reforms," Durbin said. "Until he does, I will continue pushing to pass our[Supreme Court Ethics, Reform and Transparency] Actand deliver the ethics reforms that the American people—and our democracy—demand." The measure cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee in 2023 but has not yet received a vote by the full Senate.
While Justice Thomas signed on to the court'sethics code in late 2023– which says a justice must avoid the mere appearance of a conflict of interest – it does not apply to spouses, who are not forbidden from engaging in political activity as private citizens. Ginni Thomas has spent decades publicly advocating for conservative causes and was a high-profile supporter of the "Stop the Steal" effort to overturn results of the 2020 presidential election.
Somelegal scholarshave pointed out that Ginni Thomas was taking a position on court-related legislation long shared – and publicly expressed -- by members of the court from both ends of the ideological spectrum.
