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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Ginni Thomas appears for interview by Jan. 6 House committee

By Billy House Washington Post

Virginia “Ginni” Thomas, a conservative activist and the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, reported for a closed-door interview Thursday with the House committee investigating last year’s assault on the U.S. Capitol, according to a person familiar with the meeting.

“Like many individuals that come before us, we’ll hear the testimony, and continue the investigation, continue having conversations and when it’s relevant we’ll present to the public,” said Representative Pete Aguilar, a Democrat from California, said before the session began.

Thomas’s arrival at the Thomas P. O’Neill Jr. House office building in Washington was captured by CNN. She declined to comment.

Thomas’s attorney, Mark Paoletta, said last week that Thomas was “eager to answer the committee’s questions to clear up any misconceptions about her work relating to the 2020 election.”

Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson, a Mississippi Democrat, had sent a letter in June on behalf of the committee requesting that Thomas voluntarily sit for questioning about her alleged involvement in efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

That request had come after emails surfaced from John Eastman, a lawyer advising then-President Donald Trump, showed she was in contact with Eastman, and that her advocacy for the campaign to prevent Joe Biden from taking office was more extensive than previously known.

Paoletta, in a letter after the request was made, argued that the Eastman messages provided no basis to interview her. He also explained that Thomas’s text messaging with Trump’s last White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows, involved her simply expressing concerns about the 2020 results and didn’t warrant questioning.

Thompson also said Wednesday that it wasn’t likely that the committee would reschedule a public hearing that had been set for this week for next week. He and other committee members said no new date has yet been set. The hearing was abruptly postponed on Tuesday.

Aguilar said the session was scrapped because all nine panel members were to have played roles, and colleagues felt uncomfortable proceeding without Representative Stephanie Murphy of Florida, whose district was in the path of Hurricane Ian.