Ginni Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, trafficked in unhinged conspiracy theories and advocated for a coup in a series of text messages sent to Mark Meadows, then President Donald Trump’s chief of staff, following the 2020 presidential election.
Thomas called Joe Biden’s election – which withstood an unprecedented level of scrutiny – “the greatest Heist of our History.” Over the course of 29 bombastic text messages, she urged Meadows to fight “the Left” and make sure Trump remained in the White House, even though he overwhelming lost both the popular vote and the electoral college.
Meadows was forced to hand over the text messages to the House committee investigating the events that culminated with the Capitol riot. Meadows’ lawyer told The Washington Post, which broke the story about Thomas’ texts, that “nothing about the text messages presents any legal issues.”
But the messages – riddled with random capitalizations, nonsensical punctuation, and a manic tone – raise serious questions about Thomas’ influence on her powerful husband, the conservative stalwart first confirmed to the Supreme Court during the George H.W. Bush administration. In particular, is Clarence Thomas impartial enough to adjudicate legal challenges to the 2020 election? Trump has long claimed that the Supreme Court would validate his unfounded allegations that fraud cost him a second term in the White House. He’s had little success on that front, but Thomas, a conservative stalwart, has shown the most willingness to entertain Trump’s theories.
The Post reports:
In February 2021, when the Supreme Court rejected election challenges filed by Trump and his allies, Thomas wrote in a dissent that it was “baffling” and “inexplicable” that the majority had decided against hearing the cases because he believed the Supreme Court should provide states with guidance for future elections.
Neither of the Thomases have responded to multiple media requests for comment about the text messages. In fact, the state of Clarence Thomas is unknown. He was hospitalized with an infection over the weekend and an update wasn’t issue for several days, even though it was reported that he’d be released on Tuesday. On Friday morning, the Supreme Court said he had been discharged from the hospital, but offered no details. In a recent interview with a conservative outlet, Ginni Thomas said she doesn’t discuss her political activism with her husband. She also admitted to attending the pro-Trump rally that preceded the Capitol riot, although she claims she left before the violence began.
Beginning on November 5, 2020, Ginni Thomas repeatedly forwarded outlandish theories from right-wing personalities and websites to Meadows, including the assertion that Biden, “his crime family,” and “ballot fraud co-conspirators” were about the be arrested and sent to barges docked off of Guantanamo Bay, the military base in Cuba where the U.S. has indefinitely detained terrorists.
In another forward, Thomas shared a video by Steve Pieczenik, a former State Department official turned far-right commentator, that was filled with QAnon references. Pieczenik has alleged that the Sandy Hook massacre was staged to advance the agenda of duplicitous gun control advocates; QAnon is a bizarre set of beliefs that centers around the idea that the world is controlled by powerful pedophiles. According to devotes of Qanon, Trump is a literal savior sent to vanquish evil forces.
The Post adds:
The video Thomas shared with Meadows is no longer available on YouTube. But Thomas wrote to Meadows, “I hope this is true; never heard anything like this before, or even a hint of it. Possible???”
“Watermarked ballots in over 12 states have been part of a huge Trump & military white hat sting operation in 12 key battleground states,” she wrote.
During that period, supporters of the QAnon extremist ideology embraced a false theory that Trump had watermarked mail-in ballots so he could track potential fraud. “Watch the water” was a refrain in QAnon circles at the time.
Thomas also told Meadows to “release the Kraken and save us from the left taking America down,” an obvious reference to attorney Sydney Powell, whose many lawsuits about the 2020 were so ridiculous, that she’s been reprimanded by multiple courts and is facing disbarment.
Thomas explicitly endorsed Powell in several text message to Meadows. “Sidney Powell & improved coordination now will help the cavalry come and Fraud exposed and America saved,” she wrote on November 13th. In a separate message, Thomas urged Meadows to ignore widespread criticism of Powell, instructing him not to “cave” to the “elites.”
One text about Powell seemed to indicate that Thomas was also in touch with Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and White House advisor. “Just forwarded to yr gmail an email I sent Jared this am,” she wrote.
Like many right-wing activists, Thomas expressed disgust toward Trump’s vice president, Mike Pence, after he refused to illegally delay the certification of Biden’s win. A few days after the Capitol riot, Thomas wrote to Meadows, “we are living in what feels like the end of America. Most of us are disgusted with the VP and are in listening mode to see where to fight with our teams. Those who attacked the Capitol are not representative of our great teams of patriots for DJT!! Amazing times. The end of liberty.”
Meadows seemingly ignored many of the texts, but on November 24th, he texted Thomas, “This is a fight of good versus evil. Evil always looks like the victor until the King of Kings triumphs. Do not grow weary in well doing. The fight continues. I have staked my career on it. Well at least my time in DC on it.”
Since handing over thousands of document to the January 6th committee, Meadows has withdrawn his cooperation with their investigation. Thomas signed a letter saying the prob “brings disrespect to our country’s rule of law” and represents “legal harassment to private citizens who have done nothing wrong.” She has supported throwing the committee’s two GOP members – Representatives Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger – out of the Republican Party.
At least two legal challenges to the committee’s work might end up in front of the Supreme Court. One, filed by Meadows, seeks clarity on whether he can claim executive privilege to avoid further cooperation with investigators. Another involves the committee’s attempts to obtain the emails of John Eastman, a conservative lawyer who authored a plot to overturn the 2020 election that found favor in the Trump White House. Eastman once clerked for Clarence Thomas.
The New York Times provides important context:
Ms. Thomas has been a longtime political activist on the far right, and she and her husband have been a frequent presence at partisan political conferences. That has long led to calls for Mr. Thomas to recuse himself from cases in which his wife has an interest, but he has rejected such suggestions. He once said his wife worked “24/7 every day in defense of liberty,” adding, “We are equally yoked, and we love being with each other because we love the same things.”
Stephen Gillers, a law professor and judicial ethics expert at New York University, said that while Ms. Thomas is free to exercise her First Amendment rights, her texts crossed a line.
“The consequences of what she’s done is that I don’t think that Clarence Thomas can sit on any case involving, even remotely, the conduct of the election, the vote of Congress on Jan. 6, or any cases involving the Jan. 6 committee’s attempts to get information, including the committee’s efforts to get Eastman’s emails,” he said. “He must recuse himself, and should have recused himself in the cases that have been heard up to now.”
