For all the diaries pondering ways to stop Trump’s Supreme Court nomination from replacing Justice Kennedy, the fact is, McConnell and the Republicans have the majority and Trump is already gloating about the chance to push the court right. They will push this through with speed because I believe they consider that the Senate has at least some chance to flip from R to D. It’s highly unlikely any “moderate” Republican Senator will buck the party on this because they have had the goal to pack the court for decades.
If we take it as a given that a new Supreme Court Justice will be emplaced by fall, as stated by McConnell, this leads to the following question — if the Mueller investigation results in findings sufficiently egregious that they decide to indict President Trump and he chooses to fight the indictment because he believes he’s above the law as President and the legal fight winds its way to the Supreme Court, wouldn’t the two justices nominated and appointed by Trump be required to recuse themselves from rendering a decision on the matter?
I have no legal experience to offer an opinion but it seems to make sense on the face of it. Is there precedent in state or federal courts of appointed justices recusing themselves when dealing with the people who put them in office?