Virginia “Ginni” Thomas, a conservative activist and wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, contacted at least two Wisconsin state lawmakers in 2020 to urge them to overturn President Joe Biden’s election victory in the coveted state , reported Thursday the washington post.
On Twitter, many Internet users rose up. Many relayed the news along with the hashtag “Lock Her Up,” first used by Donald Trump supporters in 2016 in regards to then-Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton .
“Why should the wife of a Supreme Court justice be above the law without consequences? Why should Clarence Thomas be allowed to continue serving on the Supreme Court? There is something wrong with this picture! we read among the scrolling publications.
The US daily first reported in June that Ginni Thomas emailed 29 Arizona state lawmakers. She asked them to “pick” their own presidential electors — tasked with electing the president and vice president — yet knowing that the responsibility for choosing voters rests with citizens under state law. ‘Arizona.
Two new emails obtained under state public records law surfaced Thursday.
They demonstrate that M.me Thomas also sent a message to two Wisconsin Republican lawmakers: State Senator Kathy Bernier, then chair of the Senate Elections Committee, and State Representative Gary Tauchen. The latter received, almost at the same time, a textual copy of the message.
“Please stand firm in the face of media and political pressure. Please reflect on the awesome authority granted to you by our Constitution. And then please take steps to ensure that a clean slate of voters is chosen for our state,” read the missives obtained by CBS News and reported for the first time by the washington post.
A copy of the email sent by Ginni Thomas to Wisconsin State Senator Kathy Bernier on Nov. 9, 2020, obtained by CBS News (first reported by the Washington Post/ @emmersbrown)
“…please take action to ensure that a clean slate of Electors is chosen for our state,” Thomas wrote. pic.twitter.com/U5zTWprLze
— aaron navarro (@aaronlarnavarro) September 1, 2022
The emails were sent on Nov. 9, just days after President Biden won.
In an interview with the Associated Press, Kathy Bernier however declared that she did not remember having received the email from Ms.me Thomas, who incidentally was one of thousands his office and other Wisconsin lawmakers had received. The message in question had been sent from the FreeRoots platform, which allows the mass sending of pre-written emails.
A hard-right activist
Ginni Thomas’ political activism, unusual for the wife of a Supreme Court justice, has for several years raised questions about potential conflicts of interest for her husband, reports the washington post. She nevertheless assures that the two keep their professional lives separate.
The 65-year-old has come under intense scrutiny in recent months as criticism of her intensified as reports of her role in the post-election period in United States emerged.
She was invited last month to testify before a parliamentary committee which is interested in her exchanges with John Eastman, a lawyer close to Donald Trump, architect of a project aimed at annulling the results of the presidential election of 2020. Text messages reveal that she was also in contact with then-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and thus allegedly encouraged him to challenge the results of the presidential election.
A longtime activist, Ginni Thomas joined the executive committee of the Council for National Policy in 2019, an influence group of more than 400 members that has embodied the hard right in Washington since the 1980s.