Ginni Thomas texted Mark Meadows she discussed post-election fight with 'best friend.' Was it Justice Thomas?
Virginia "Ginni" Thomas, a well-connected conservative activist and wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, was very invested in the false idea that former President Donald Trump was robbed of victory in the 2020 election, according to text messages she sent to Mark Meadows, then Trump's White House chief of staff, The Washington Post and CBS News reported Thursday evening.
Thomas' texts to Trump's top White House aide in the weeks following the Nov. 3 election are tinged with conspiracy theories about election fraud and suggest she discussed those ideas with her husband. Meadows, who is now under investigation for committing possible vote fraud in the 2020 election, sometimes replied.
When Meadows wrote Thomas on Nov. 24 to "not grow weary" in this "fight of good versus evil," and said he has "staked my career" on overturning Biden's win, Thomas replied: "Thank you!! Needed that! This plus a conversation with my best friend just now." She did not say who that "best friend" was, but Clarence Thomas has repeatedly referred to his wife as his "best friend."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
There are no overt references to Clarence Thomas or the Supreme Court in this batch of Ginni Thomas' text messages to Meadows, but the exchanges "represent the first evidence that she was directly advising the White House as it sought to overturn the election," The New York Times reports. In fact, they show that Thomas "effectively toggled between like-minded members of the executive and legislative branches, even as her husband, who sits atop the judiciary branch that is supposed to serve as a check on the other branches of government, heard election-related cases."
Justice Thomas has been Trump's "most stalwart defender on the court," the Times adds, and cast the lone vote against allowing the release of Trump White House records to the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.
Ginni Thomas has a First Amendment right to express her opinions, but "the consequences of what she's done is that I don't think that Clarence Thomas can sit on any case involving, even remotely, the conduct of the election, the vote of Congress on Jan. 6, or any cases involving the Jan. 6 committee's attempts to get information," Stephen Gillers, a New York University law professor and judicial ethics expert, told the Times. "He must recuse himself, and should have recused himself in the cases that have been heard up to now."
-
The Week Unwrapped: Do the Freemasons have too much sway in the police force?Podcast Plus, what does the growing popularity of prediction markets mean for the future? And why are UK film and TV workers struggling?
-
Properties of the week: pretty thatched cottagesThe Week Recommends Featuring homes in West Sussex, Dorset and Suffolk
-
The week’s best photosIn Pictures An explosive meal, a carnival of joy, and more
-
NIH director Bhattacharya tapped as acting CDC headSpeed Read Jay Bhattacharya, a critic of the CDC’s Covid-19 response, will now lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
-
Witkoff and Kushner tackle Ukraine, Iran in GenevaSpeed Read Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner held negotiations aimed at securing a nuclear deal with Iran and an end to Russia’s war in Ukraine
-
Pentagon spokesperson forced out as DHS’s resignsSpeed Read Senior military adviser Col. David Butler was fired by Pete Hegseth and Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin is resigning
-
Judge orders Washington slavery exhibit restoredSpeed Read The Trump administration took down displays about slavery at the President’s House Site in Philadelphia
-
Hyatt chair joins growing list of Epstein files losersSpeed Read Thomas Pritzker stepped down as executive chair of the Hyatt Hotels Corporation over his ties with Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell
-
Judge blocks Hegseth from punishing Kelly over videoSpeed Read Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth pushed for the senator to be demoted over a video in which he reminds military officials they should refuse illegal orders
-
Trump’s EPA kills legal basis for federal climate policySpeed Read The government’s authority to regulate several planet-warming pollutants has been repealed
-
House votes to end Trump’s Canada tariffsSpeed Read Six Republicans joined with Democrats to repeal the president’s tariffs
