An old video of Virginia Thomas discussing her departure from the Lifespring self-help cult has resurfaced. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
By Yvonne Wingett Sanchez and Ronald J. Hansen | Arizona Republic
Ginni Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, urged Arizona state lawmakers to reverse former President Donald Trump’s election loss in 2020 by choosing electors themselves.
The Washington Post first reported Friday on a move that adds new detail to the pressure campaign by national conservative figures and Arizona residents on state and local officials to avert Trump’s narrow defeat.
Ginni Thomas’ activism in the upper echelons of the conservative movement in Washington has raised cries for Clarence Thomas to recuse himself from some cases and for the adoption of clear ethics rules for the high court.
Her Arizona outreach came in a pair of emails to Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers, R-Mesa, and state Rep. Shawnna Bolick, R-Phoenix, who was part of the committee overseeing elections, the Post reported.
Bowers did not see Thomas’ message, he said Friday in a written statement to The Arizona Republic.
“The emails appear to have been among the hundreds of thousands of messages sent to the Speaker’s office during that period,” said Andrew Wilder, a spokesperson for Bowers. “Speaker Bowers did not see, much less read, the vast majority of those messages, including the form email sent by Mrs. Thomas.”
“I was disappointed and frustrated that there was violence” after President Donald Trump’s rally Jan. 6, 2021, says Virginia “Ginni” Thomas, wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.
Bolick, who is married to Arizona Supreme Court Justice Clint Bolick, responded to Thomas at the time by noting their personal relationship with the Thomases and told her how to file a formal complaint.
In a Twitter message Friday, Bolick, who is running for secretary of state, attacked the media.
“The dishonest media wants to distract attention from election fraud & our efforts to secure elections,” she tweeted.
A spokesperson for Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich did not immediately say whether Thomas filed a formal complaint alleging fraud.
Thomas has been a strong supporter of Trump and her outreach came just after media organizations had called Arizona for President Joe Biden in what proved to be the closest race in the country. She didn’t mention any candidate by name, but given Biden’s apparent victory at the time, the messages unmistakably urged a different result.
