Ginni Thomas tells Jan. 6 panel she still believes false election fraud claims, chair says

Ginni Thomas tells Jan. 6 panel she still believes false election fraud claims, chair says

Rep. Bennie Thompson said the select committee may incorporate her testimony in their rescheduled hearing “if there's something of merit.”

Conservative activist Virginia "Ginni" Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, walks to a room at the O'Neill House Office Building, part of the Capitol complex, where she is being interviewed by the House panel investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection, in Washington, Thursday, Sept. 29, 2022. | J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo

Virginia Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, told the Jan. 6 panel during lengthy testimony Thursday that she still believes false claims that the 2020 election was stolen from former President Donald Trump, according to the panel’s chair.

“The information 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,’” select committee chair Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), told reporters Thursday of Thomas’ testimony. “She was one of those people we wanted to talk to and, ultimately, we eventually got there.”

Thompson also told reporters Thomas had answered “some questions” Thursday during her interview.

Thomas, also known as Ginni, sat with the panel behind closed doors for over four hours in a congressional office building where they have conducted many of their interviews. She is one of the select committee’s major outstanding witnesses as investigators start to wind down their probe, and they’ve wanted to ask her questions about her connections to John Eastman, a legal architect of Trump’s last-ditch plan to subvert the 2020 election.

“She had conversations [with] and was messaging John Eastman. We have questions about that,” said panel member Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.).

Thomas had invited Eastman to speak to an activist group in the aftermath of the election, though Eastman has denied ever discussing Supreme Court-related matters with Thomas. CBS and the Washington Post had also published text messages from her to top Trump allies, in which she urged them to investigate debunked claims of election fraud and to fight harder to overturn the election results. The select panel had been trying to talk to her for months, finally reaching an agreement with her last week.

A select panel spokesperson declined to comment on Thomas’ appearance. Her attorney, Mark Paoletta, said in a statement she was “happy to cooperate” Thursday to clear up “misconceptions about her activities about her activities surrounding the 2020 elections.”

“She answered all of the Committee’s questions,” he said. He added that she told the committee her election-related activity “focused on ensuring that reports of fraud and irregularities were investigated” and that she played no role in post-election events beyond her push for investigations.

Meanwhile, the select panel is currently searching for a new date for its likely final hearing, which they postponed due to Hurricane Ian. The House plans to leave D.C. Friday and are not scheduled to return until November due to midterm campaigns, possibly complicating efforts to reschedule the hearing.

“They’re canvassing everybody for their schedules [and] travel,” panel member Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) told reporters Wednesday evening. He summed up the issue: “We were all set to go. And then the hurricane laid waste to the best laid plans.”

Some of Thomas’ testimony could be incorporated into the rescheduled hearing “if there’s something of merit,” Thompson said Thursday.

Olivia Beavers contributed to this report.