Virginia “Ginni” Thomas is the wife of Clarence Thomas, a rightwing Supreme Court justice, and a lawyer herself (see her bio here).
She’s also a rightwing political activist and election denier. She was more than a cheerleader for Trump’s efforts to overthrow the 2020 election; she was an active participant in those efforts. That’s why the House Jan. 6 committee wanted to interview her.
Surprisingly (to me, at least), she agreed to talk with them. She did so for nearly 5 hours, and apparently came across as genuinely believing Biden won only because of massive fraud; or at least that’s how it’s being reported (see, e.g., story here). I don’t believe she’s innocent.
She isn’t stupid or ignorant like this fool, and as a lawyer she knows how to weigh evidence. Therefore, it’s strange that she promoted baseless conspiracy theories about the election, including in private emails to Mark Meadows, then still-president Trump’s chief of staff (details here). The only reasonable explanation for her behavior is partisan politics, which is consistent with her history of activism.
That’s fine as far as it goes, but she’s has a Supreme Court justice’s ear, and judges are supposed to be impartial, not partisan. It doesn’t help that Clarence Thomas has long been thought of as a partisan judge.
As a lawyer, she also knows about the “appearance of fairness” doctrine, which basically says judging cases should not only be fair, but also appear to be fair. This doctrine is behind the practice and principle of judges recusing themselves from cases in which they appear to have a personal interest, even if they could and would decide the case fairly.
Ginni Thomas is entitled to believe and speak nonsense, just like the moron in the video linked above. And she’s not responsible for what her husband does; that’s on him. And if she unlawfully participated in an unlawful conspiracy to interfere with the election, that’s on her, not him.
But all that said, it wasn’t a good look when he was the only justice to oppose giving the Jan. 6 committee access to Trump White House documents which included text messages his wife sent to Mark Meadows “urging him to do all he could” to overturn the election. And even if she and her husband don’t discuss the court’s cases, given her activism, appearances dictate his recusal from such cases, but he refuses to do that.
The Thomases aren’t stupid people. They’re giving us the middle finger and laughing at us. And I’m not fooled that’s what it is.
Related stories: A Washington Post columnist called her election denial “demented” (story here), and the Lincoln Project mocked her smirk as she left the Jan. 6 committee’s questioning (see video here).
