Attorney For Ginni Thomas Says There’s No Reason For Her To Speak To Jan. 6 Panel
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An attorney for Ginni Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, said Tuesday that he saw no reason for her to testify before the House select committee investigating the deadly Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, adding he had “serious concerns” about any potential interview.
The lawyer, Mark Paoletta, wrote a letter to the panel after it asked Ginni Thomas to sit for a voluntary interview earlier this month. Thomas has come under scrutiny after House investigators obtained email exchanges that included Thomas and attorney John Eastman, a key figure who advised then-President Donald Trump in his bid to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. Lawmakers also have text messages Thomas exchanged with White House chief of staff Mark Meadows in which she urged him to work toward overturning Joe Biden’s victory.
Thomas, a powerful conservative activist in Washington, said shortly after the panel requested she speak with them that she “can’t wait to clear up misconceptions” about her connections to the Jan. 6 events. Thomas has previously said she was at the Trump rally that preceded the Capitol attack but had no role in organizing it and left early due to the cold weather.
“There is no story to uncover here,” Paoletta, a close friend of the Thomases, wrote in the Tuesday letter, obtained by Politico. “As she has already acknowledged, Mrs. Thomas attended the rally on January 6, but left well before the President began to speak, and well before any individuals began marching to the Capitol.”
“Mrs. Thomas has expressed a willingness to try to come before the Committee as a means of clearing her name,” Paoletta continued. “But, based on my understanding of the facts … I do not believe there is currently a sufficient basis to speak with Mrs. Thomas.”
The attorney went on to rebut reporting about the link between Thomas and two Trump aides. He said she only emailed with Eastman to invite him to speak to a group of conservative activists, “nothing more.” And he said the messages to Meadows — including a note in which she urged him: “Do not concede” — were her merely “texting with a friend.”
Paoletta added that his position could change if the committee provided more information about its findings.
The attorney went on to note it had been a “particularly stressful time” for the Thomases, saying they had been subjected to “an avalanche of death threats and other abuse.”
“Without more information, I am left to believe that, if her name were Ginni Jones, the Committee would never even entertain speaking with her,” he wrote.
This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.
