Ginni Thomas Reportedly Urged Arizona Lawmakers To Ignore Biden’s Victory And Adopt ‘Clean Slate Of Electors’

Topline

Ginni Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, pressured two Arizona lawmakers in emails to overturn Joe Biden’s victory in the state in the 2020 presidential election by asking them to appoint an alternate slate of electors favoring then-President Donald Trump, the Washington Post reported on Friday, two months after text messages revealed Thomas also pressed ex-White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows to attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

Virginia “Ginni” Thomas, wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, sits at an event in … [+] Washington, DC.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Key Facts

In emails sent to Speaker of the Arizona House Russell Bowers (R) and Rep. Shawnna Bolick (R)—who served in 2020 on the House elections committee—Thomas told the lawmakers they had to “take action to ensure that a clean slate of Electors is chosen,” the Post reported.

In the emails—sent on November 9—Thomas pressed the lawmakers to “fight back against fraud” and “ensure our elections are free, fair and honest.”

She followed up with the representatives in another email on December 13, asking them to “consider what will happen to the nation we all love if you don’t stand up and lead.”

She also asked lawmakers to meet to talk about efforts to “audit” the election results.

In a tweet on Friday, Bolick—who was one of several Arizona lawmakers who signed a resolution urging Congress to accept Arizona’s 11 GOP electors for Trump or to void the state’s electoral votes for Biden until an audit could be completed—posted her November 10 response to Thomas in which she wrote “I hope you and Clarence are doing great!” and provided links to where Thomas could report suspected voter fraud.

Bowers and Thomas did not respond to requests for comment from Forbes, while Bolick—who is now running for Arizona Secretary of State—wrote in the tweet that she responded to Thomas’ messages “as I would to any constituent.”

Crucial Quote

“I am writing today to urge you to do your Constitutional duty. Please stand strong in the face of political and media pressure. Please reflect on the awesome authority granted to you by our constitution,” Thomas wrote in the email, according to the Post.

Big Number

More than 10,000. That’s how many votes President Joe Biden won by in the swing state of Arizona in the 2020 presidential election, according to official results.

Chief Critic

The Post did not obtain any email responses to Thomas from Bowers. But in a statement a month after Election Day, the Arizona House Speaker said he could not “and will not entertain a suggestion that we violate current law to change the outcome of a certified election.”

Key Background

The new emails come two months after the Post and CBS News obtained a host of text messages in which Thomas in November 2020 pressed Meadows to pursue efforts to overturn the election, after official results showed Biden had won the presidency. In the messages, Thomas argued Trump should not concede and asked Meadows to “make a plan” and “Help This Great President stand firm, Mark!!!” The messages prompted calls from Democratic lawmakers for Clarence Thomas to recuse himself from cases related to the January 6 riot, while House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) called Thomas a “proud contributor to a coup of our country.” Thomas sent the emails to the Arizona lawmakers from freeroots.com—an online platform designed to allow organizers to more easily reach representatives—with the subject line “Please do your Constitutional duty!” according to the Post. In the aftermath of the election, the Trump campaign filed a host of unsuccessful lawsuits challenging the results of the election. Trump pressed for audits in several swing states, including Arizona, where the Republican-led Senate hired a cybersecurity firm with no prior election auditing experience to review results in Maricopa County. After the review was completed, Arizona county election officials released a report refuting almost every claim in the audit, which still confirmed Biden’s victory.

What To Watch For

Whether Thomas is asked to testify before the House January 6 Select Committee. The Post reported in March the committee planned to ask Thomas for an interview in the wake of her texts to Meadows.