Ginni Thomas, wife of Supreme Court justice, testifies before Jan. 6 panel

Last updated September 29, 2022 at 6 :04 PM ET

Ginni Thomas is a long-time GOP activist and also the wife Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. She testified several hours behind closed doors before the House Select Jan. 6 Committee.

Later, her lawyer released a statement stating that she answered all panel members' questions during closed-door testimony. She left the session four hours after her appearance and declined to comment on reporters.

Thomas was first interviewed by the committee about her communications with people who wanted to reject the results in 2020. This included former President Donald Trump's chief staff Mark Meadows, and John Eastman, a key figure in Trump's campaign. A conservative attorney, Eastman, wrote a memo that outlined a plan to reject electoral votes in several states and was an outside legal adviser to President Donald Trump in the latter part of 2020.

Thomas' lawyer Mark Paoletta stated that she had "significant concerns about fraud and irregularities" during the election and wanted to ensure they were investigated.

The statement states that "beyond this, she played no part in any events after 2020 election results." "She hates violence from any side of the aisle."

Thomas testified Thursday morning. California Democratic Rep. Pete Aguilar said that he would not comment on her voluntary appearance. He said, however, that the panel would share any relevant information with the public, just as with other witnesses.

He stated, "I'll say that the committee has been very clear about that we'd love to hear from Ginni Tom, her discussions and coordination with Mark Meadows and specifically John Eastman."

Thomas acknowledged that she was at the Ellipse Trump rally on Jan. 6, but she criticized the violence at Capitol. In text messages, Thomas reached out to Meadows in the weeks preceding the attack on Capitol. All legal challenges brought up by several states alleging fraud in 2020 elections were rejected by the courts.

White House counsels and counsels for then-Vice president Mike Pence pushed back against Eastman's and other Trump allies’ efforts to overturn the election results. They claimed it violated the Constitution, and would be soundly rejected if the matter were ever argued at the Supreme Court. The court refused to hear the election challenges of Trump and his allies, and Justice Thomas voted against, saying that the justices should have heard it. Some critics suggested that he should have stayed out of the cases surrounding the election because of his wife's advocacy for politics.

Thomas stated that she was willing to appear after Meadows published her communications. Months of negotiations followed.

Jan. 6 was originally scheduled to hold its ninth and most likely final investigative hearing. However, Hurricane Ian forced the committee to postpone the public session. Chairman Bennie Thompson stated that he would soon announce a new date.

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