OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
The January 6 Committee appears to be intent on making noise before the midterms and their new witness will likely do precisely that.
Ginni Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, has agreed to be interviewed by the committee, her attorney said, CNN reported.
“As she has said from the outset, Mrs. Thomas is eager to answer the Committee’s questions to clear up any misconceptions about her work relating to the 2020 election. She looks forward to that opportunity,” her attorney, Mark Paoletta, said.
In June her attorney said he did not see a reason that the committee would need to hear from her.
“I am asking the Committee to provide a better justification for why Mrs. Thomas’s testimony is relevant to the Committee’s legislative purpose,” he said.
He said that she was “willing to appear” and “eager to clear her name,” but he was concerned that if she was asked to be interviewed it would serve “to continue the baseless harassment she has been subjected to since January 6.”
He said that his client was at the US Capitol on January 6 “but left well before the President began to speak, and well before any individuals began marching on the Capitol.”
“She held no official or unofficial role in the White House, nor in President Trump’s reelection campaign,” he said.
But in July Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, who was defeated in her primary and is no longer going to be a member of Congress after January 2023, threated to subpoena her.
“The committee is engaged with her counsel. We certainly hope that she will agree to come in voluntarily. But the committee is fully prepared to contemplate a subpoena if she does not. I hope it doesn’t get to that,” she said.
“I hope she will come in voluntarily. We have certainly spoken with numbers of people who are similarly situated in terms of the discussions that she was having that you mentioned. So it’s very important for us to speak with her. And, as I said, I hope she will agree to do so voluntarily. But I’m sure we will contemplate a subpoena if she won’t,” she said.
"The committee is fully prepared to contemplate a subpoena."@RepLizCheney says Jan. 6 committee will consider subpoenaing Ginni Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, because of messages sent to Mark Meadows about 2020 election results. @CNNSotu #CNNSOTU pic.twitter.com/uVsVDAvXtv
— CNN (@CNN) July 24, 2022
In March, Democrat Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez joined a chorus of other left-wing Democrats and pundits in calling for Associate Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas to either resign his post or face impeachment proceedings.
“Clarence Thomas should resign,” the New York Democratic representative tweeted on Tuesday. “If not, his failure to disclose income from right-wing organizations, recuse himself from matters involving his wife, and his vote to block the Jan 6th commission from key information must be investigated and could serve as grounds for impeachment.”
The Washington Examiner added:
Ocasio-Cortez echoed what numerous other Democratic colleagues, including Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar, have said in regards to the most senior justice’s spouse Ginni Thomas. The justice’s wife is a longtime conservative advocate and most recently had a trove of messages revealed by the House Jan. 6 Committee investigating the riot on the U.S. Capitol. The messages depicted Thomas encouraging former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows to keep fighting in an effort to overturn the 2020 election results in favor of the former president.
The progressive Democrat also questioned Clarence Thomas’s refusal to recuse himself from several election-related cases before the Supreme Court, including at least 10 rulings concerning the 2020 presidential election.
The Reagan appointee has come under fire from the left regarding a January case when he was the lone justice dissenting in an 8-1 ruling that put the House Select Committee on Jan. 6, which is investigating the Capitol riot, on course to obtain records from the Trump White House.
And now, the committee is deliberating whether to call Ginni Thomas in to provide voluntary testimony in order to discover more about her support for attorney Sidney Powell’s efforts challenging the 2020 election result.
“I think what we know, if investigated further, could absolutely be grounds for potential impeachment. I absolutely do believe that,” Ocasio-Cortez told Axios .
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) rejected calls for Thomas to recuse himself from certain cases because of his wife’s political advocacy.
“It’s his decision based upon law. If you spent any time studying the Supreme Court justice, he’s one who studies correctly,” McCarthy said. “If he sees it’s not upholding the Constitution he’ll rule against it. If it’s the Constitution, that’s what his job should be. It’s him.”
