Examination of the committee’s request to speak with Ginni Thomas has given the prominent conservative activist pause.
irginia “Ginni” Thomas, a prominent conservative activist who is also married to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, is demanding that the House Select Committee on Jan. 6 elaborate on its basis for soliciting testimony over privately petitioning her own government.
Hours after the Jan. 6 Committee wrapped up its sixth hearing on Tuesday, Ginni’s attorney, Mark Paoletta, sent a letter to the panel’s leadership requesting specifics on why the probe with an open animosity for the Thomas family seeks to publicly drag his client before lawmakers.
“Mrs. Thomas is eager to clear her name and is willing to appear before the Committee to do so,” Paoletta wrote to Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., and Vice-Chair Liz Cheney, R-Wyo. “However, based on my understanding of the communications that spurred the Committee’s request, I do not understand the need to speak with Mrs. Thomas.”
In March, Ginni became the center of a fabricated controversy related to the Jan. 6 Committee’s investigation when the panel leaked a series of private text messages with former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows. The messages, 29 in all, revealed a conservative activist pleading with a government official to continue investigating allegations of election fraud in the pandemic-era contest, which included record-level turnout in the form of mail-in voting that was ripe for misconduct.
Committee members escalated their efforts to compel Ginni’s testimony earlier this month after more private communications were revealed with individuals involved in former President Donald Trump’s efforts to halt certification of the 2020 election. Thompson told Axios his colleagues on the panel “think it’s time that we, at some point, invite her [Thomas] to come talk to the committee.”
Ginni said shortly after she looked “forward to talking to them.”
“I can’t wait to clear up misconceptions,” she told the Daily Caller.
Further examination of the committee’s request, however, has given Ginni pause.
The panel’s request focuses on Ginni’s communications with attorney and law professor John Eastman, who produced legal theories to justify delays in certification of the electoral college. The extent of the pair’s contact, however, as outlined by Paoletta, stretches to generic emails forwarded by Ginni on a large distribution list and an invitation to speak to a group of conservative activists, a type of event Ginni organizes regularly.
“Not a single document shows any coordination between Mrs. Thomas and Mr. Eastman,” Paoletta wrote.
Paoletta also outlined skepticism that the committee was operating in good faith in its desire to bring Ginni before lawmakers, considering her husband is among the most targeted members of the Supreme Court.
In 2014, Thompson stood by his comments calling Justice Thomas “Uncle Tom” in a speech with the New Nation of Islam, which believes “intermarriage or race mixing should be prohibited.”
Thomas “doesn’t like black people, [and] he doesn’t like being black,” the congressman said.
“These statements by the Committee’s chairman certainly raise alarm bells when the committee says that it wants to speak with Mrs. Thomas,” Paoletta wrote.
Tristan Justice is the western correspondent for The Federalist. He has also written for The Washington Examiner and The Daily Signal. His work has also been featured in Real Clear Politics and Fox News. Tristan graduated from George Washington University where he majored in political science and minored in journalism. Follow him on Twitter at @JusticeTristan or contact him at Tristan@thefederalist.com.
