By Janean Sorrell, Apr. 19, 2022
I remember Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, clearly. In the midst of winter break, I planned to relax in my PJs and wait for Congress to certify Joe Biden’s electoral vote. I assumed we could get back to some sense of normalcy. Instead, I sat furiously, glued to the television as the violence ensued.
The United States Supreme Court is supposed to uphold the law of the land, preserve our democracy and be a nonpolitically biased institution. Unfortunately, that’s no longer the case. Justice Clarence Thomas’ wife Virginia “Ginni” Thomas, not only admitted to attending the Jan. 6 “Stop the Steal” rally last month in an interview with Washington Free Beacon, but now it has been exposed that she was in cahoots with Trump’s Chief of Staff, Mark Meadows, to refuse conceding and overturn the 2020 presidential election results.
On March 24, the Washington Post and CBS News disclosed that they had obtained copies of 29 text messages sent, between the election and Jan. 6, 2021, where Ginni Thomas begged Meadows to do anything in his power to overturn the election.
The first text was the day before Biden was declared the winner of the 2020 election. Thomas wrote to Meadows on Nov. 6, 2020, “Do not concede. It takes time for the army who is gathering for his back.”
During this time, Trump spoke publicly about his intent to contest the election results. “We want the law to be used in a proper manner,” said Trump. “So, we’ll be going to the U.S. Supreme Court. We want all voting to stop.”
On Nov. 10, 2020, after news outlets had projected Biden the winner based on state total votes, Ginni Thomas wrote to Meadows, “Help This Great President stand firm, Mark!!!…You are the leader, with him, who is standing for America’s constitutional governance at the precipice. The majority knows Biden and the Left is attempting the greatest Heist of our History.”
“Sounds like Sidney and her team are getting inundated with evidence of fraud,” Ginni Thomas wrote to Meadows on Nov. 19, 2020. “Make a plan. Release the Kraken and save us from the left taking America down.”
Meadows replied on Nov. 24, 2020, “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.”
To which Ginni Thomas replied, “Thank you!! Needed that! This plus a conversation with my best friend just now… I will try to keep holding on. America is worth it!”
It was unclear to whom Ginni Thomas was referring to. However, people close to the couple have referred to Justice Clarence Thomas and Gini Thomas as best friends.
Despite her role in trying to overturn the election, Justice Clarence Thomas has not recused himself from any of the Jan. 6 related cases, and there have been a number of them. Most recently, he was the lone dissenter in a case in which Trump attempted to stop the House Jan. 6 committee from obtaining White House records held by the National Archives and offered no reason.
But now we know the reason – Ginni Thomas’ text messages.
People don’t wake up one day and decide to overthrow the government. Ginni Thomas has been in the background for 30 years, working her way deep into hard-right conservative groups.
In 2013, Ginni Thomas started Groundswell group, a coalition of radical American conservative activists and journalists including Trump’s former National Security Advisor John Bolton, Max Pappas, former top aide to Sen. Ted Cruz, and Stephen Bannon, who served as the Trump’s White House’s chief strategist and co-founder of Breitbart News.
The Groundswell Group Campaign is a self-proclaimed “30 front war seeking to fundamentally transform the nation,” with goals of repealing the Affordable Care Act, working behind the scenes to enact voter ID laws, blocking Obama administration nominees, devising strategies for killing immigration reform and hyping up the Benghazi attack.
According to a New York Times Magazine article, during the Trump administration, Ginni Thomas was referred to as a “wrecking ball” by White House aides because of her frequent lobbying efforts, which were admissible for one reason alone – her husband.
Ginni Thomas has a history of advocating a conservative stance on issues that could come before the Supreme Court, where her husband serves. These include abortion, affirmative action and gun rights.
However, justices are subject to federal law that prohibits them from hearing a case in which their spouse have “an interest that could be substantially affected by the outcome of the proceeding.” It also calls for a justice to disqualify themselves from any proceeding in which their “impartiality might reasonably be questioned.”
Justice Clarence Thomas is fully aware of the requirement to recuse in certain cases because he has done it in the past. According to advocacy group Fix the Court, Justice Thomas has recused himself 54 times in his 30 years on the court. This is a far cry from other justices who recuse themselves roughly 180 times per term.
Let’s not forget that in 2008, Justice Thomas attended an all-expenses retreat – paid by the Federalist Society- hosted by the billionaire Koch brothers, who were strong opponents of campaign finance reform. Thomas would later go on to rule on Citizens United, arguing that laws requiring public disclosure of large political contributions are unconstitutional.
It’s also worth noting that in 2017-2018, Ginni Thomas received $200,000 from Frank Gaffney nonprofit, the Center for Security Policy. Gaffney is a well-known anti-Muslim, Isalamophobe conspiracy theorist who was a loud advocate for Trump’s Muslim ban – an executive order issued in 2017, banning travel from several mostly Muslim countries. Gaffney’s organization submitted an amicus brief in August 2017 to the Supreme Court, where Thomas upheld the Muslim ban.
This is a clear assault on our democracy by a person of power. This is not only a constitutional violation, but it is a criminal conspiracy. Ginni Thomas must be held accountable for a federal crime, and her best friend Justice Clarence Thomas needs to resign.