Is this the fall of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas?
Does anyone remember the classic children’s book, Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus? Ginni! Ginni! Ginni! What have you done? My jaw dropped, and I shook my head in disbelief a few days ago when I read some of the text messages between disgraced ex-Trump Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and Virginia (Ginni) Thomas. She is the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.
In a series of text messages exchanged between the two between November 4 and November 24 and one written on that fateful day in January 2021, Thomas directly advises senior members of the White House staff—specifically Meadows to disrupt, dispute, and fight certification of the 2020 election. The gossipy and disturbing messages are part of thousands of documents that Meadows turned over to the congressional committee investigating the Jan 2021 Capitol attack and riots. The texts are direct proof that Thomas advised and encouraged the White House as it sought to overturn the election. She was in constant contact with Meadows, Jared Kushner, and Connie Hair, the chief of staff to Louie Gohmert, a Republican congressman. He sued Vice President Mike Pence to force him to certify Donald Trump as the winner of the 2020 election.
In one text to Meadows on November 10, after various news outlets projected President Biden had the electoral votes and won the election, Thomas wrote, “Help This Great President stand firm, Mark!!! You are the leader with him, who is standing for America’s constitutional governance at the precipice. The majority knows Biden and the Left is attempting the greatest Heist of our History.” In another text, she told Meadows not to “cave to the elites,” and, “I can’t see Americans swallowing the obvious fraud.” She mentions Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner in another exchange. She wrote, “Just forwarded to yr gmail an e-mail I sent Jared this am.” And later, she mentions disgraced ex-Trump attorney Sidney Powell. Thomas wrote, “Sidney Powell & improved coordination now will help the cavalry come and Fraud exposed and America saved.” Earlier this month, Thomas admitted that she attended the “Stop the Steal” rally that preceded the deadly attack on the Capitol. However, she claims she left the event early.
At any rate, the whole debacle is disturbing and unsettling. In a nutshell, you have the spouse of a Supreme Court Justice of the United States, vigorously encouraging and advising a top official in the Executive Branch of the White House to more less do whatever it takes to overturn a legitimate election. Thomas never mentions her husband directly in the series of text messages to her credit. However, in one, she references discussing the 2020 election results with her “best friend.” In several previous speeches, Judge Thomas has referred to his wife Ginni as his “best friend.”
While neither Thomas has commented publicly since the release of the text messages, there are several calls for a full investigation. There has been at least one call for an impeachment proceeding to be introduced. Noted political pundit Norman Ornstein at the American Enterprise Insititute (AEI)–a conservative political think tank in Washington DC wrote, “At a minimum, someone in the House should introduce an impeachment resolution against Thomas. Let the evidence be aired. He continued to be involved with cases intertwined with his wife’s active engagement. Utterly unethical. And her behavior is flat out traitorous.” There has only been one other Supreme Court Justice impeachment in history. It was Justice Samuel Chase in 1805. The House of Representatives impeached him for letting his partisan leaning affect his court decisions. The Senate later acquitted Chase. Will history repeat itself–217 years later?
An interesting side note, Clarence Thomas was recently released from a Washington DC area to treat what has been described as an “infection” and “not coronavirus.” He has served on the SCOTUS for more than 30 years. Ginni has insisted that she and her husband have similar and perhaps dissimilar ideas and opinions. She said, “Clarence doesn’t discuss his work with me, and I don’t involve him in my work.” However, she sits on several boards and groups, including one that “pressured” Republican lawmakers to challenge the 2020 election results. Stay tuned. And Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus, and you may need him when impeachment hearings begin.