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Who is Ginni Thomas? Wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas apologizes to clerks for Capitol riots role

Ginni Thomas has been under scrutiny for her role in encouraging protesters who later stormed the Capitol through her Facebook posts on January 6

Conservative political activist Virginia "Ginni" Thomas told her husband Justice Clarence Thomas’s former law clerks that she was sorry for a rift that developed among them after her election advocacy of President Donald Trump and endorsement of the January 6 rally in Washington D.C. that resulted in violence and death at the Capitol.

“I owe you all an apology. I have likely imposed on you my lifetime passions,” Thomas, who goes by Ginni, recently wrote to a private listserv called 'Thomas Clerk World', which had email ids of her husband's former court staff from his three decades on the bench, according to a report in The Washington Post.

“My passions and beliefs are likely shared with the bulk of you, but certainly not all. And sometimes the smallest matters can divide loved ones for too long. Let’s pledge to not let politics divide THIS family, and learn to speak more gently and knowingly across the divide,” she said in her post to the group. Her missive was leaked by a member of the listserv group who was upset with the pro-Trump messages written by Ginni Thomas and others in the lead-up and aftermath of the election.

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On the morning of January 6, Thomas made a Facebook post saying "GOD BLESS EACH OF YOU FOR STANDING UP or PRAYING" with a link to a live stream of the rally, where Donald Trump spoke. She later updated the post to add: "Note: written before the violence in the US Capitol." Her Facebook page was taken down on January 8. At the time, Mark Joseph Stern, a Slate reporter had posted screenshots of her now-deleted posts.

Responding to Ginni Thomas's apology, Twitter users ranted against her. One user was angry about Ginni Thomas's selective apology, writing: "She apologizes to Clarence's CLERKS? THAT's who Ginni Thomas thinks she's wronged? What about the DEAD people's families? What about terrorized Congressional staffers? The Capitol Police for hours of hand to hand combat and 140 injuries? Members of Congress? AMERICANS?", while a tweet in reply said: "TBH, they were the safest group for her to apologize to. They are beholding to her husband with their professional futures in his hands. They aren't going to say sh*t to the boss's wife."

Another tweet claimed: "This leaked so-called apology sounds an awful lot like coordinated (possibly preemptive) damage control. Thinking we're about to learn even more about the role Ginni Thomas played in the insurrection against the United States of America".

Her husband Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas was also held accountable with calls for his resignation. "Doesn’t it seem wrong that Clarence Thomas is still in SCOTUS and will be part of cases involving the sedition and insurrection knowing that his wife Ginni Thomas is connected to those attacks against the US Capitol?" said one tweet, while another user replying to the tweet seemed to have a 'scoop'. "Angry Staffer answered a Tweet about this yesterday and mentioned that there are whispers that Thomas is thinking of retiring. I can think of few things that would make me happier," said the tweet.

Who is Ginni Thomas and what is the 'conflict of interest'?

Ginni Thomas, who will turn 64 on February 23, is an American attorney, whose lobbying activities have been raised as a potential source of conflict of interest for her husband, ever since he was appointed as a Supreme Court Justice. She and Clarence Thomas were married in 1987.

In 1991, her husband, Clarence Thomas, was nominated by President George H. W. Bush to fill the open seat on the U.S. Supreme Court left by the retirement of Justice Thurgood Marshall.

She attended the contentious Senate confirmation hearings and stood by her husband as he was accused of sexual harassment. During the confirmation hearings, several Democratic Senators claimed that her then job with the Labor Department might create a conflict of interest for her husband if he was seated on the Supreme Court.

By 2000, she was working for the Heritage Foundation, where she was collecting résumés for potential Presidential appointments in the George W. Bush Administration when the Supreme Court was deciding Bush v. Gore. The conflict of interest between her work and her husband's Supreme Court role was again under scrutiny. She, however, continued her work at the Heritage Foundation. She also served as the White House Liaison for the think tank during the administration of George W. Bush.

In late 2009, Thomas started a nonprofit lobbying group, Liberty Central, to organize conservative activists, issue score cards for Congress members, and be involved in elections. The group was aimed at opposing what Thomas has called the leftist "tyranny" of President Barack Obama and Congressional Democrats and "protecting the core founding principles" of the nation. In July 2013, Thomas was identified as a key member of Groundswell, a coalition of right-wing activists and journalists attempting to make political change behind the scenes through lobbying of high-level contacts. Thomas has served on the advisory council of Turning Point USA. In October 2020, shortly before the 2020 U.S. Presidential election, Thomas advanced the conspiracy theory via social media that George Soros "is really running the Democratic Party."

In January 2021, she came under scrutiny for her tweets on her "Love" for MAGA people who later stormed the Capitol.