Ginni Thomas gives interview to Jan. 6 panel

Ginni Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, gave a voluntary interview with the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. 

The interview with Thomas caps a months-long effort by the committee to speak with the conservative activist, who reportedly exchanged emails with John Eastman, the lawyer who drafted memos for the Trump campaign outlining how then-Vice President Mike Pence could keep then-President Trump in power, as well as with White House chief of staff Mark Meadows.

Speaking with reporters Thursday, committee Chair Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) said during the interview Thomas reiterated her belief that the 2020 election was stolen, despite there being no evidence of widespread election fraud.

“The information [we got from Thomas] was typical of a lot of information we received from other people who were involved in this effort around Jan. 6. A lot of ‘Well I believed something was wrong,’” he said. 

With what could be the committee’s final hearing delayed due to Hurricane Ian, Thompson said there is a chance some aspects of her interview could be revealed in the rescheduled hearing.

“If there’s something of merit, it will be” included, he said.

Thompson did not indicate whether or how extensively Thomas may have pleaded the fifth.

Thomas’s attorney, Mark Paoletta, said in a statement that Thomas answered all of the committee’s questions.

“As she has said from the outset, Mrs. Thomas had significant concerns about fraud and irregularities in the 2020 election.  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.  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,” Paoletta wrote.

Thomas herself also told The Daily Caller in June that she was willing to speak with the panel and “clear up misconceptions,” though she did not detail what those might be. Still, later that month her attorney said he needed “a better justification for why Mrs. Thomas’s testimony is relevant to the committee’s legislative purpose.”

Pressed in a Sunday interview on CNN on what the committee is hoping to hear from Thomas, Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), a member of the panel, pointed to her communications with Eastman.

“I don’t know what her answers will be, but clearly there were emails between her and Dr. Eastman that we’d like to explore with her. And she said publicly that she’ll come in and everything will be clear, so we hope that’s the case,” she said.

The release of text messages with Meadows show Thomas was engaging with the White House and encouraging efforts to keep Trump in power.

“Help This Great President stand firm, Mark!!!…You are the leader, with him, who is standing for America’s constitutional governance at the precipice. The majority knows Biden and the Left is attempting the greatest Heist of our History,” Thomas texted to Meadows a week after the election. 

Thomas’s activism has led to calls for Clarence Thomas to recuse himself from any cases with a nexus to Jan. 6.

Thomas’s interview comes as the committee delayed what could be its final public hearing due to Hurricane Ian.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Updated 4:16 p.m.