Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), a member of the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack, said on Sunday that the panel might not feature testimony from Ginni Thomas at its upcoming hearing on Thursday.
The panel late last month interviewed Thomas, a conservative activist married to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, and is now preparing for a public hearing on Thursday, its first in weeks.
“We may,” Lofgren told MSNBC host Yasmin Vossoughian when asked if Ginni Thomas’s testimony would be featured at the hearing.
The California Democrat added that the panel did not videotape Thomas’s interview, as they did with some other witnesses shown in past hearings, so any featured testimony from Thomas would be shown through a transcript.
“It was just the agreement reached with her, and I think it was suitable from all sides,” Lofgren said on MSNBC.
The committee had attempted to speak with Thomas for months after it was revealed she reportedly exchanged emails with John Eastman, the lawyer who drafted memos for the Trump campaign outlining how then-Vice President Mike Pence could keep his running mate in power.
She also reportedly spoke with White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and Arizona lawmakers about efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results.
Lofgren on Sunday described the panel’s interview with Thomas as “lengthy,” saying she did not sit in for its entirety but has since read the transcript.
“I don’t think she was a key figure necessarily, she had very mistaken views,” Lofgren said. “I mean we all know that there is no evidence of massive fraud in the election.”
“But she has a belief system that she apparently still holds, although she did also express some doubts during the interview,” Lofgren continued. “So it was important that we talk to her because of the email exchanges, but I don’t think she was a major player in this, personally.”
Thomas’s role following the 2020 election has led to calls for Clarence Thomas to recuse himself from any cases connected with Jan. 6.
“As she has said from the outset, Mrs. Thomas had significant concerns about fraud and irregularities in the 2020 election,” her attorney, Mark Paoletta, said in a statement following her interview.
“And, as she told the Committee, her minimal and mainstream activity focused on ensuring that reports of fraud and irregularities were investigated,” the statement continued. “Beyond that, she played no role in any events after the 2020 election results. As she wrote in a text to Mark Meadows at the time, she also condemned the violence on January 6, as she abhors violence on any side of the aisle.”
The House panel rescheduled its next hearing for Thursday after postponing it due to Hurricane Ian.