Virginia (Ginni) Thomas, the spouse of U.S. Supreme Court docket Justice Clarence Thomas, stood by the false declare that the 2020 election was fraudulent throughout an interview Thursday with the Home committee investigating the Jan. 6 rebellion, the panel’s chairman mentioned.
Bennie Thompson answered “Sure,” when requested by reporters if Virginia Thomas nonetheless believed that to be the case.
“It is a work in progress,” mentioned Thompson, a Democrat from Mississippi, after the greater than four-hour interview ended. “At this level, we’re glad she got here.”
The committee — comprised of seven Democrats and two Republicans — has for months sought an interview with Thomas in an effort to know extra about her position in making an attempt to assist former U.S. president Donald Trump overturn his election defeat.
The conservative activist texted with then-White Home chief of employees Mark Meadows practically 30 occasions within the weeks after the election, it was realized earlier this 12 months, and in addition contacted lawmakers in Arizona and Wisconsin.
Democrats see battle of curiosity
Thomas answered a few of the questions from congressional investigators Thursday as she sought to painting herself as among the many many Individuals who nonetheless consider the baseless declare that the 2020 election was stolen, in keeping with an individual aware of the investigation who was not licensed to debate it publicly.
“As she has mentioned from the outset, Mrs. Thomas had vital issues about fraud and irregularities within the 2020 election,” Mark Paoletta, her lawyer, mentioned in an announcement. “And, as she informed the committee, her minimal and mainstream exercise centered on guaranteeing that stories of fraud and irregularities have been investigated.”
“Past that, she performed no position in any occasions after the 2020 election outcomes,” he added.
The testimony from Thomas was one of many final remaining for the panel because it eyes the completion of its work. The panel has already interviewed greater than 1,000 witnesses and proven a few of that video testimony in its eight hearings over the summer season.
The extent of her involvement within the Capitol assault is unclear. Within the days after The Related Press and different information organizations known as the presidential election for Biden, Thomas emailed two lawmakers in Arizona to induce them to decide on “a clear slate of electors” and “stand robust within the face of political and media stress.” AP obtained the emails earlier this 12 months beneath the state’s open data legislation.
Thomas has mentioned in earlier interviews that she attended the preliminary pro-Trump rally the morning of Jan. 6, however left earlier than Trump spoke and the crowds headed for the Capitol.
Thomas, a Trump supporter lengthy energetic in conservative causes, has repeatedly maintained that her political actions posed no battle of curiosity with the work of her husband.
“Like so many married {couples}, we share most of the similar beliefs, rules and aspirations for America. However we’ve got our personal separate careers — and our personal concepts and opinions too. Clarence would not talk about his work with me, and I do not contain him in my work,” Thomas informed the Washington Free Beacon in an interview printed in March.
Supreme Court docket Justice Clarence Thomas’ spouse believes the election was stolen.<br><br>And Justice Thomas is allowed to sit down on January 6 circumstances.<br><br>But Republicans nonetheless don’t assume the Supreme Court docket wants a code of conduct. <br><br>Make it make sense.<a href=”https://t.co/FZjSClNQrk”>https://t.co/FZjSClNQrk</a>
—@maziehirono
Justice Thomas was the lone dissenting voice when the Supreme Court docket dominated in January to permit a congressional committee entry to presidential diaries, customer logs, speech drafts and handwritten notes referring to the occasions of Jan. 6.
Democrats like Sen. Mazie Hirono of Hawaii have questioned why that’s the case, in addition to why the Supreme Court docket doesn’t have a code of ethics, in distinction to the decrease federal courts.
‘Probably the most safe election’: federal company
Ginni Thomas has been overtly important of the committee’s work, together with signing onto a letter to Home Republicans calling for the expulsion of Reps. Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois from the GOP convention for becoming a member of the Jan. 6 congressional committee.
No credible claims of widespread 2020 election fraud have been introduced forth in dozens of circumstances that went earlier than the courts and have been subsequently rejected.
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The Trump administration’s personal Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Safety Company throughout the Division of Homeland Safety characterised the election in an announcement in November 2020 as “probably the most safe in American historical past,” and former lawyer normal William Barr, chosen by Trump, has panned most of the assertions of fraud by the previous president and his most loyal advocates.
Republicans espousing claims about 2020 vote fraud have usually not addressed how they reconcile that view with the celebration’s personal robust efficiency in Congress within the election. Republicans considerably narrowed the Democrat benefit within the Home, and have been in line to retain the Senate till two Georgia byelections weeks later resulted in a 50-50 chamber, with Democratic vice-president Kamala Harris holding a vote in any ties.