What do Ginni Thomas’ texts mean for Justice Thomas? At the Supreme Court, it’s up to

Chief Justice John Roberts has adopted a posture of “trust us” through the years, although other justices have suggested an internal debate has occurred over whether the court should be covered by a formal code of ethics.

Three years ago this month, Justice Elena Kagan told a House committee that Roberts was considering whether to adopt a conduct code applicable to the justices.

“It’s something that is being thought very seriously about,” Kagan said at the time.

But nothing apparently came of that and since then, controversies undermining public confidence in the justices’ activities have only mounted. The latest related to Ginni Thomas arise as a new conservative 6-3 majority, solidified by the addition of three appointees of former President Donald Trump, is rolling back constitutional protections, most notably on abortion and voting rights.

Justice Thomas, on the bench since 1991, is now helping steer the transformed court.

Vividly on display this week was also the politically charged Supreme Court confirmation process, as President Joe Biden’s choice of federal appellate Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson endured partisan distortions of her judicial record and off-bench activities. If confirmed, she would be the nation’s first Black female justice in the 233-year history of the court.

Developments on Thursday has renewed calls for clearer rules and greater transparency concerning when justices should disqualify from cases.

It is now known that the House select committee investigating the January 6 deadly rampage at the Capitol has gathered text messages between Ginni Thomas and then-Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows showing Ginni Thomas pleading with him to fight to overturn the election results.

She offered thoughts regarding legal strategy, including the use of attorney Sidney Powell, and in one November 10, 2020, text wrote, “Help This Great President stand firm, Mark!!! … You are the leader, with him, who is standing for America’s constitutional governance at the precipice. The majority knows Biden and the Left is attempting the greatest Heist of our History.”

First on CNN: January 6 committee has text messages between Ginni Thomas and Mark Meadows

Justice Thomas participated in Supreme Court cases related to 2020 election controversies, and in one February 2021 opinion, dissented as the full court declined to take up a challenge to Pennsylvania mail-in voting procedures. He demonstrated support for the claim that election fraud is a threat to America.

“We are fortunate that many of the cases we have seen alleged only improper rule changes, not fraud. But that observation provides only small comfort,” he wrote. “An election free from strong evidence of systemic fraud is not alone sufficient for election confidence.” No other justice joined his opinion.

This past January, Justice Thomas dissented alone as the court allowed the National Archives to release to the January 6 committee thousands of documents from the Trump White House, over the former President’s attempt to assert executive privilege.

After initially endorsing Ted Cruz as a candidate early in the 2016 cycle, Ginni Thomas became a Trump loyalist. But the disclosure of the text messages reveals a closer connection to Trump’s attempts to overthrow the…