Sept. 30 (UPI) — Virginia “Ginni” Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, restated false claims the 2020 election was stolen from Donald Trump, the chairman of the committee investigating violence at the Capital building on Jan. 6 said.
Both The Washington Post and The New York Times referenced comments by Rep. Bennie G. Thompson, a Democrat representing Mississippi and the chairman of the Jan. 6 committee, indicating that Thomas reiterated false claims that Trump would have won another term in 2020, but the vote was stolen.
Thomas appeared for five hours of closed-door testimony before the Jan. 6 committee on Thursday.
She’s been a highly sought-after witness after emails were discovered between her and John Eastman, an attorney for former President Trump, that supported his effort to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election won by Joe Biden.
Eastman drafted memos for the Trump campaign outlining how then-Vice President Mike Pence could keep then-President Trump in power despite losing the election.
Along with firing off emails to Eastman after the election, Thomas, a well-known advocate for conservative causes, sent emails to at least two Wisconsin Republican legislators pushing them to name an alternate slate of presidential electors to back Trump.
She also corresponded with former Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows in the days following the 2020 election, urging him to overturn the results in the Electoral College.
An attorney representing Mrs. Thomas, Mark Paoletta, said in a statement offered to the Post that she appeared before the committee to clear up any misconceptions about her role in the 2020 presidential contest.
“As she has said from the outset, Mrs. Thomas had significant concerns about fraud and irregularities in the 2020 election,” the lawyer said. “And, as she told the committee, her minimal and mainstream activity focused on ensuring that reports of fraud and irregularities were investigated. Beyond that, she played no role in any events after the 2020 election results.”
Trump’s own attorney general, William Barr, countless lawsuits and other challenges have all concluded there was no level of fraud in the 2020 election that would’ve changed the outcome.
Thompson, the committee chairman, said testimony from Mrs. Thomas could be included in an upcoming hearing if there’s “something of merit.”
“At this point, we’re glad she came,” he was quoted by the Times as saying.
The relationship between the Supreme Court justice and the conservative activist has raised eyebrows, particularly as Justice Thomas was the lone dissenter in an emergency application from the former president seeking to block the release of White House records related to the events of Jan. 6. The court ruled 8-1 to have those records released.
In a statement obtained by the Times, however, Mrs. Thomas said it was an “ironclad rule” that her and her husband avoid discussing these issues.
“It is laughable for anyone who knows my husband to think I could influence his jurisprudence – the man is independent and stubborn, with strong character traits of independence and integrity,” she said.
The Jan. 6 committee has so far interviewed more than a thousand witnesses and vetted hundreds of thousands of documents during its investigation. U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., another member of the committee, was quoted in the Times as saying the testimony from the conservative activist indicates that people are still willing to cooperate.
“There’s a lot more information coming in all the time,” he added.
The investigation is ongoing, though a final report is expected before year’s end.
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