Clarence Thomas (left) and his wife, Virginia ‘Ginni’ Thomas, at Antonin Scalia’s funeral in 2016. (Getty)
Virginia ‘Ginni’ Thomas is the controversial wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. The 59-year-old Nebraska native might have made it difficult for her husband to rule on Donald Trump‘s immigration travel ban, since The Daily Beast has published emails that appear to show Ginni Thomas attempt to organize activists to support Trump’s policies.
The 59-year-old Ginni Thomas and Clarence Thomas have been married since 1987. They do not have any children. She has made her affiliation to the Republican party clear and is the founder of the conservative advocacy group Liberty Central. She also contributes to Tucker Calrson‘s conservative Daily Caller website. During the 2016 presidential primary campaign, she endorsed Texas Senator Ted Cruz for president.
Here’s a look at Ginni Thomas.
1. She Asked in an Email How She Could Start a ‘Ground-Up Grassroots Army of Pro-Trump Daily Action Items’
On February 16, The Daily Beast reported that it obtained emails Ginni Thomas sent to a conservative listerv on February 13.
“What is the best way to, with minimal costs, set up a daily text capacity for a ground up-grassroots army for pro-Trump daily action items to push back against the left’s resistance efforts who are trying to make America ungovernable?” she wrote, according to the report. “I see the left has Daily Action @YourDailyAction and their Facebook likes are up to 61K.”
The email included a link to a Washington Post story about Daily Action.
“But there are some grassroots activists, who seem beyond the Republican party or the conservative movement, who wish to join the fray on social media for Trump and link shields and build momentum,” she continued, according to the Daily Beast. “I met with a house load of them yesterday and we want a daily textable tool to start… Suggestions?”
Ginni and Clearance Thomas did not provide the Daily Beast with a comment.
Heidi Li Feldman, a professor at Georgetown Law School, told the Daily Beast that the email could give lawyers a reason to ask that Justice Thomas recuse himself from cases centering on the Trump travel ban.
2. She Wrote That There Is a ‘Subversive Alt-Government in Line With the Alt-Left’s Growing Resistance’
Ginni Thomas has been writing for The Daily Caller for several years. In her most recent post, she claimedd there was an alt-left “subversive government” inside the government that wants to make “America ungovernable.”
“Today, a subversive alt-government is emerging, in line with the alt-left’s growing resistance to use any means necessary to slow, stop and obstruct Trump’s agenda, from inside the government, to make America ungovernable,” Ginni Thomas wrote. She also cited an October report from The Hill that 95 percent of federal workers supported the Hillary Clinton campaign.
Ginni Thomas’ posts often have a disclaimer at the bottom, noting that she does not receive money from the Daily Caller’s advertisers.
“Mrs. Thomas does not necessarily support or endorse the products, services or positions promoted in any advertisement contained herein, and does not have control over or receive compensation from any advertiser,” the disclaimer reads.
3. In 2010, She Surprisingly Called Anita Hill & Requested an Apology
During Justice Thomas’ confirmation hearings in 1991, lawyer Anita Hill accused Thomas of sexual harassment when she worked for him at the U.S. Department of Education and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Despite her claims, Thomas was confirmed by the Senate and remains on the Supreme Court.
In 2010, The New York Times reported that Ginni Thomas surprisingly called Hill, who is now a professor at Brandeis University. Hill played the message, in which Ginni Thomas asked Hill to apologize to her husband. In the message, Ginni Thomas said:
“Good morning Anita Hill, it’s Ginni Thomas. I just wanted to reach across the airwaves and the years and ask you to consider something. I would love you to consider an apology sometime and some full explanation of why you did what you did with my husband. So give it some thought. And certainly pray about this and hope that one day you will help us understand why you did what you did. O.K., have a good day.”
At first, Hill thought it was a prankster and she asked the FBI to investigate. Ginni Thomas later confirmed that it was her, but she didn’t say why she left the message 19 years after the hearings.
“I did place a call to Ms. Hill at her office extending an olive branch to her after all these years, in hopes that we could ultimately get past what happened so long ago,” she said in a statement to the Times. “That offer still stands. I would be very happy to meet and talk with her if she would be willing to do the same. Certainly no offense was ever intended.”
“I appreciate that no offense was intended, but she can’t ask for an apology without suggesting that I did something wrong, and that is offensive,” Hill told the Times.
4. She Founded a Tea Party-Affiliated Group Called Liberty Central, Which Backed off From a Memo That Called Obamacare Unconstitutional
In 2009, Ginni Thomas founded Liberty Central, a Tea Party-affiliated non-profit organization. The group no longer exists, since it merged with the Patrick Henry Center for Individual Liberty in late 2010.
“The more we realized where we both were, our shared missions, our share principles, our shared knowledge of the conservative movement, it became clear that there could be an alliance here,” she told the Daily Caller in December 2010.
Her tenure as the leader of a conservative group while her husband had to rule on Obama Administration policies raised eyebrows throughout Washington. For example, in October 2010, Liberty Centrral called Obama’s healthcare law “unconstitutional” in a memo. According to the Tribune Washington Bureau, the memo was posted on the group’s website and Ginni Thomas’ name appeared on it.
Sarah Field, the group’s chief operating officer at the time, said that Ginni Thomas herself didn’t mean to endorse the memo, which was circulated by another group. It was then removed from the Liberty Central website.
Ginni Thomas “did not review the memo; it was reviewed by staff who mistakenly signed off with her name on it. As a result, we have asked CAP to remove her name and they did so immediately,” Field told the Tribune. “Liberty Central assiduously avoids taking a position on the constitutionality of this, and other issues, and will continue to do so in the future.”
In 2014, Justice Thomas was among the dissent in National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius, the case that ruled that most parts of the Affordable Care Act are constitutional.
5. She Was the White House Liaison for the Conservative Heritage Foundation During the George W. Bush Administration
Ginni Thomas. (The Heritage Foundation)
Ginni Thomas has created conflict of interest concerns for her husband throughout his tenure on the Court. Fore example,during the Bush v. Gore case in 2000, there were concerns because she was already collecting resumes of potential George W. Bush appointments while working at the Heritage Foundation.
During the Bush Administration, Ginni Thomas continued to work at the conservative think tank. She was White House liaison for the organization. She no longer works at the group. Her last position there was director of Executive Branch Relations.
According to the Los Angeles Times in 2011, the Common Cause watchdog group said Justice Thomas failed to report Ginni Thomas’ income from the Heritage Foundation. She earned $686,589 from the group between 2003 and 2007. However, in 2009, Justice Thomas put down spousal income as “none.”
