Virginia “Ginni” Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, revealed in an interview published Monday that she attended a Jan. 6 rally that led up to last year’s Capitol insurrection.
In an interview with the conservative news outlet The Washington Free Beacon, Thomas said that while she did appear at the “Stop the Steal” rally that ultimately led to a violent attack on the Capitol, she did not have anything to do with the organizing of the event, as suggested in previous reports.
“I played no role with those who were planning and leading the Jan. 6 events,” Thomas told the Beacon. “There are stories in the press suggesting I paid or arranged for buses. I did not. There are other stories saying I mediated feuding factions of leaders for that day. I did not.”
Thomas claimed that she left the rally at the Ellipse outside the White House early because she was cold.
The very vocal conservative activist also claimed that she and her husband do not get involved in each other’s work. Democrats and legal ethics experts had previously suggested that Ginni Thomas’s political activism created a conflict of interest for Clarence Thomas, who as a Supreme Court justice is expected to be impartial to political issues that may come before the high court.
“The legal lane is my husband’s—I never much enjoyed reading briefs and judicial opinions anyway and am quite happy to stay out of that lane,” Thomas told the Free Beacon. “We do not discuss cases until opinions are public—and even then, our discussions have always been very general and limited to public information.”
She added, “Like so many married couples, we share many of the same ideals, principles, and aspirations for America. But we have our own separate careers, and our own ideas and opinions too. Clarence doesn’t discuss his work with me, and I don’t involve him in my work.”
Ginni Thomas’s interview is rare as the wife of a sitting Supreme Court justice and comes after months of speculation and reports about her involvement in the Jan. 6 rally, which sought to stop the Electoral College vote count in the 2020 presidential election that declared Joe Biden victorious over his Republican opponent former President Donald Trump.
In her interview with the Beacon, Thomas claimed that she was “disappointed” by the actions of thousands of insurrectionists who stormed and destroyed the Capitol building.
“I was disappointed and frustrated that there was violence that happened following a peaceful gathering of Trump supporters on the Ellipse on Jan. 6,” she said. “There are important and legitimate substantive questions about achieving goals like electoral integrity, racial equality, and political accountability that a democratic system like ours needs to be able to discuss and debate rationally in the political square. I fear we are losing that ability.”
As The New York Times Magazine reported in a lengthy feature story last month, Ginni Thomas serves on the board of the conservative Council for National Policy, which led efforts to protest the Electoral College results after former President Trump falsely claimed that there was voter fraud in the 2020 election. The publication reported that Thomas took to Facebook to “champion the attempt of a defeated president to stay in power.”
Ginni Thomas downplayed her involvement with the Council for National Policy, saying that the Times and The New Yorker overstated her work with the conservative organization.
“As a member of their [501]c4 board, candidly, I must admit that I do not attend many of those separate meetings, nor do I attend many of their phone calls they have,” said Thomas. “At CNP, I have moderated a session here and there. I delivered some remarks there once too.”
In the days that followed the Jan. 6 insurrection, Ginni Thomas appeared to issue what had been interpreted as a semi-apology to a private email group that comprised of former law clerks to Justice Clarence Thomas. “I have likely imposed on you my lifetime passions,” wrote Mrs. Thomas.
“My passions and beliefs are likely shared with the bulk of you, but certainly not all. And sometimes the smallest matters can divide loved ones for too long. Let’s pledge to not let politics divide THIS family, and learn to speak more gently and knowingly across the divide,” adding, “I am certainly on the humble side of awareness here.”
Story Credit: thegrio Staff
Photo Credit: Drew Angerer/Getty Images (published by thegrio)