Report: Ginni Thomas tried to reverse Biden’s win in Arizona
(The Hill) – Virginia “Ginni” Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, reached out to almost 30 Arizona lawmakers following Donald Trump’s defeat in the 2020 election, urging them to reject President Joe Biden’s victory, The Washington Post reported Friday.
The Post reported last month that Ginni Thomas sent emails to two lawmakers six days after the election to tell them to work on behalf of Trump and “fight back against fraud.” The most recent report, based on emails The Post obtained, raises the number Thomas contacted to 29.
She used the platform FreeRoots, which allows users to send pre-written emails to multiple officials at once, to contact 20 members of the Arizona House and seven state senators in addition to the two state House members, The Post previously reported Thomas sent all the emails on the same day, Nov. 9.
The emails encouraged the recipients to “stand strong in the face of political and media pressure,” arguing they have the power to choose Arizona’s electors who vote in the Electoral College for president. But voters have the power to choose a state’s electors by casting their ballots. It’s not up to state legislatures, as Trump and his allies argued following the election.
Thomas tried once more to urge 22 House members and one state senator to overturn the state’s results on Dec. 13, one day before the Electoral College members were set to cast their votes, The Post reported.
“Never before in our nation’s history have our elections been so threatened by fraud and unconstitutional procedures,” Thomas wrote.
Thomas’ involvement in working to overturn the results in the presidential election has raised ethical questions, considering Clarence Thomas has taken part in ruling on cases related to the election. Clarence Thomas has rejected suggestions of a conflict of interest, arguing their careers are entirely separate.
The Hill has reached out to Ginni Thomas and the Supreme Court for comment.