'Release the Kraken': Ginni Thomas' post-election texts to Trump's chief of staff included hints of QAnon

Virginia "Ginni" Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, sent at least 21 text messages to Mark Meadows, then White House chief of staff, in the weeks after the Nov. 3, 2020, election, most of them urging and advising Meadows on ways to help former President Donald Trump overturn his loss to President Biden, The Washington Post and CBS News reported Thursday evening.

Some of the text messages dabbled in election conspiracy theories popular with QAnon and the far right or promoted by Sidney Powell, a controversial lawyer who briefly worked for Trump's campaign to reverse the election. Thomas, a prominent conservative activist in her own right, texted about an "army" and "cavalry" of supporters who would come to Trump's rescue. Meadows, in his eight replies, occasionally pushed back.

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The first of the 29 exchanges, on Nov. 5, was Thomas sending Meadows a link to a video, now deleted, about a former State Department adviser and current far-right commentator named Steve Pieczenik. "Watermarked ballots in over 12 states have been part of a huge Trump & military white hat sting operation in 12 key battleground states," she wrote, adding "I hope this is true" and asking if it was possible.

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Thomas also quote-texted: "Biden crime family & ballot fraud co-conspirators (elected officials, bureaucrats, social media censorship mongers, fake stream media reporters, etc) are being arrested & detained for ballot fraud right now & over coming days, & will be living in barges off GITMO to face military tribunals for sedition," adding: "I hope this is true" as well.

Thomas repeatedly urged Meadows to convince Trump to hire, then not fire, Powell. Before Powell's ill-fated Nov. 19 press conference with a sweaty Rudy Giuliani, Thomas texted Meadows: "Sounds like Sidney and her team are getting inundated with evidence of fraud. Make a plan. Release the Kraken and save us from the left taking America down." When Trump effectively dumped Powell on Nov. 22, Thomas texted: "Trying to understand the Sidney Powell distancing." Meadows texted back: "She doesn't have anything or at least she won't share it if she does." Thomas replied, "Wow!"

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.