The wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, Virginia “Ginni” Thomas is being asked to answer questions from the House Committee to Investigate the January 6, 2001 Attack on the Capitol.
The Thomases have been married 35 years and call themselves “best friends.” Twitter and news followers know that Ginni is a right-wing activist said to be associated with Donald Trump’s plot to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.
The House Committee will subpoena Mrs. Thomas regarding some emails, if she refuses to answer questions about her involvement, according to a statement by the committee’s vice-chair, Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyoming), on Sunday.
The Committee is negotiating with Thomas’ attorneys.
“We certainly hope that she will agree to come in voluntarily, but the committee is fully prepared to contemplate a subpoena if she does not. I hope it doesn’t get to that,” said Cheney. “It’s very important for us to speak with her.”
The Committee is looking for documents that include 29 messages during the period of November 2020 to January 2021. The texts encourage former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows to continue the fight to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. Thomas also allegedly wrote texts and emails to attorney John Eastman, who was an ally of Donald Trump, and who wrote the “coup memo,” about how to change the vote count.
“Help This Great President stand firm, Mark,” Thomas wrote to Meadows after the election. “The majority knows Biden and the Left is attempting the greatest Heist of our History.”
Thomas also sent emails to Arizona lawmakers encouraging them to overturn Biden’s win with fake electors.
Thomas said she attended the rally that led up to the Capitol attack, but she denies a role in its organization. She did not enter the Capitol.
Critics have been pushing Justice Thomas to step down, or at least recuse himself from cases associated with the January 6 attack, citing conflict of interest.
“Clarence and Ginni Thomas have participated in one of the worst breaches of trust ever seen in our court system,” Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-N.J.) said in a statement last month.
Sen. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Justice Thomas should recuse himself from cases due to “serious questions” about his wife’s possible links to the “planning and execution of the insurrection.”
In spite of protests, Justice Thomas has taken part in cases related to the Capitol attack, and was the only dissenting vote in a decision against claims of executive privilege by Trump and his aides regarding documents sought by the House committee.
The decision about whether to go ahead with a subpoena is being discussed, pending the outcome of talks with Ginni Thomas’ lawyers.
