President Donald Trump on Monday night renewed his criticism of federal judges and justices, sending dispatches on Twitter from India that said Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg should recuse in cases involving the White House.

Many legal scholars quickly rose to defend the justices, and lambaste or question Trump, who has regularly derided the independence of the federal judiciary as an unfair check on the ability of his administration to set policy.

Trump's remarks about recusals of liberal justices came amid new reporting showing the wife of Justice Clarence Thomas playing a role in weeding out "Never Trump" officials from the administration. The revelations about Ginni Thomas, a conservative activist, spurred new calls for Thomas to recuse in Trump-related matters. Thomas for years has faced calls for his recusal based on his wife's work as an advocate.