Ginni Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, said she attended the “Stop the Steal” rally that preceded the violent attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, but that she left early and had no role in organizing the event, according to an interview published Monday.
Thomas told The Washington Free Beacon that she attended the rally in the morning but left because she was cold — before Donald Trump addressed the crowd and urged his supporters to march to the Capitol. The “Stop the Steal” movement hinges on the unfounded belief that Trump won the 2020 presidential election and that Democrat Joe Biden stole the election from him.
“I played no role with those who were planning and leading the Jan. 6 events,” Thomas told the conservative news outlet. “There are stories in the press suggesting I paid or arranged for buses. I did not. There are other stories saying I mediated feuding factions of leaders for that day. I did not.”
Thomas added that she was saddened to see the scenes of protesters clashing with police and storming the Capitol.
“I was disappointed and frustrated that there was violence that happened following a peaceful gathering of Trump supporters on the Ellipse on Jan. 6,” Thomas said in the interview. “There are important and legitimate substantive questions about achieving goals like electoral integrity, racial equality, and political accountability that a democratic system like ours needs to be able to discuss and debate rationally in the political square. I fear we are losing that ability.”
Thomas, a conservative activist, is in charge of a political lobbying company named Liberty Consulting, according to The New Yorker. Thomas told the Free Beacon that the goal of her organization is to connect conservatives, and she said she is not involved in lobbying or legal work.
Thomas joined the board of CNP Action, part of the Council for National Policy, in 2019. Shortly after the 2020 election, CNP Action urged its members to reach out to Republican lawmakers in Arizona, Georgia and Pennsylvania and pressure them to challenge the election results in their states, according to a New York Times report. The Council for National Policy, which has more than 400 members, also circulated a memo in which it urged members to understate the extent of the violence on Jan. 6 and to “drive the narrative that it was mostly peaceful protests.”
In her interview with the Free Beacon, Thomas downplayed her connection to the group and said she hadn’t been involved with creating either document.
Thomas’ husband is one of the six conservative justices serving on the Supreme Court. Her political activities have previously led critics to worry about potential conflicts of interest for the member of the high court.
“We have our own separate careers, and our own ideas and opinions too,” Thomas told the Free Beacon. “Clarence doesn’t discuss his work with me, and I don’t involve him in my work.”