'Clarence Thomas has no shame': Recusal seems unlikely as court takes up Trump appeal

The U.S. Supreme Court quickly agreed to hear Donald Trump's appeals in his federal election subversion case, but don't expect justice Clarence Thomas to recuse himself.

Special counsel Jack Smith asked the court to consider the case before an appellate court weighs in, and former U.S. attorney Barbara McQuade told MSNBC's "Morning Joe" that it was a smart tactic.

"I have to say, I didn't see it coming, but it is a really shrewd move on the part of Jack Smith," McQuade said. "He is trying to leapfrog the court of appeals. If this were to play out in the normal course, there could be a delay of many months, which would jeopardize the March 4 trial date. What Jack Smith is essentially saying is, 'Look, we all know this is the kind of question that's going to the Supreme Court anyway, there's no need to waste our time going to the court of appeals. It's a rare move, but it is not unprecedented. It's happened 49 times in the last 100 years. It's happened 25 times in the past five years."

Smith's team has proposed a swift timeline that would settle whether Trump can claim immunity because his alleged crimes occurred while he was president, and Palm Beach County attorney Dave Aronberg said the court apparently agreed with prosecutors about the matter's urgency.

"As a positive development [Monday], the court granted the expedited review of the request," he said. "That tells me that they're in line with thinking that this is a special, urgent consideration. They know the stakes here. Jack Smith was right to go to the Supreme Court. The district court of appeal, the District of Columbia court of appeal, they took their time, taking weeks to determine the gag order issue. If they took weeks on that, imagine how long they'd take on this. Donald Trump is complaining Jack Smith is going to the Supreme Court? You'd think he'd want that to determine whether or not he has presidential immunity. That's because it was never about immunity. It was always about delays."

The Supreme Court notably ruled against Trump during his 2020 election challenges, although Thomas always sided with the ex-president's claims, and his wife Ginni Thomas has been revealed as a key behind-the-scenes player in his efforts to overturn his election loss – but Aronberg wouldn't expect him to step aside in this matter.

"Nope, Clarence Thomas has no shame," Aronberg said. "He'll stay on the court, he'll help decide these issues. But he is one of nine, and it's been shown that even the justices that Donald Trump appointed, the three justices out of nine, have ruled consistently against him on issues like his taxes, for example, document production, so I think, in the end, the Supreme Court will do the right thing. I may look like a Pollyanna, but I think they understand the moment we're in."

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