Let’s Talk About Ginni Thomas, The Problematic Wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas

Explosive reporting by CBS and The Washington Post recently revealed that wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, Virginia “Ginni” Thomas, had a very direct pipeline to disgraced president Donald Trump, particularly during the January 6th Insurrection on the nation’s Capitol. For a staggering amount of reasons, this is profoundly dangerous, particularly when looking at the history of Ginni Thomas’ quiet political presence over the last few decades, a change from most spouses of Supreme Court Justices. For the purposes of this article, I will refer to her as Ginni, to distinguish her from her husband Justice Thomas.

For starters, let’s just take a look at Ginni Thomas’ personal history so we can better understand who she is and how she came to be the insidious little troll that she has become. Born in Omaha, Nebraska, Ginni was the daughter of a small-business owner father and a stay-at-home mother, both registered Republicans. From an early age, she was extremely active in her high school’s political groups, a member of debate club, student government, and the school’s young Republican club. She made it clear in high school that her aspirations were to be elected to Congress. So far, so good. Aside from the political leanings, we love a driven women! She then transferred colleges twice, with the third and final school, Creighton, being a move to be closer to her then boyfriend. Okay… that’s cool. None of my business, ya know? Creighton is also where Ginni would go on to receive her Juris Doctorate in 1983. Quick time jump: in 2011 Ginni became a correspondent for piece of shit Tucker Carlson's The Daily Caller.

After working as a legislative aide for then Governor Hal Daub for the better parts of 1981-1984. One of Ginni’s most substantial pieces of legislature she worked on was to argue against the passage of the Family Medical Leave Act of 1993. But hey! It’s not like she argued against women receiving equal pay under the law. *checks notes* Oh, wait. She did. Two years prior, in 1991, Ginni was working for the Legislative Affairs Office of the Dept. of Labor where she argued against comparable-worth legislation that would have required equal pay for women and men when the jobs are comparable. Shortly after this her husband, then-lawyer Clarence Thomas, was nominated to the Supreme Court by President George H.W. Bush to replace a retiring Justice Thurgood Marshall.

Here is where the intersection of her personal ideology and political ambitions really comes into view. One may think that with a spouse being elected to the Supreme Court, that all conflicts of interest should be taken into account. To be clear, I don’t think the partner of a Supreme Court Justice should have to sacrifice their career, but blurred distinctions create exactly the problems we now have. Not only did Ginni not avoid the political world when her husband joined our country’s highest court, but she actively leaned in. Ginni became a policy analyst for House Republican Conference Chairman, Dick Armey.

Something worth noting (let me be clear: I am not blaming the victim) is that for years in the 1980s, Ginni Thomas was a member of the Lifespring Cult. It is also worth highlighting that Ginni would go on to advocate against cults once she left, but the years in this cult should not be discounted. Ginni said of Lifespring that they hounded her incessantly when she was trying to leave, and she even hid out so she could shake them. The reason I find this so interesting, is that in 2010, almost two full decades after Anita Hill accused then-nominee Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment, Ginni called and left an early morning voicemail on Hill’s personal phone demanding she apologize to her husband, who is... once more...Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.

If the voicemail harassment was a stand-alone incident I may shrug it off (note: I still wouldn’t shrug it off), but that brings us to January 6th. Between the November 2020 election and the January 6th Insurrection on the Capitol, Ginni and Mark Meadows (Drumpf’s Chief of Staff) communicated almost 30 times, with the vast majority of the communication coming from Ginni. Many of these texts also happened in the days leading up to/after the election, where she berated Meadows (again: the Chief of Staff to the literal most powerful person in the world) to push to overturn the election results. “Release the Kraken and save us from the left taking America down,” Ginni texted Meadows. While she doesn’t reference Justice Thomas explicitly in the texts, she does reference her “best friend” which has been how she and her husband refer to each other, as seen in previous speeches and documents available to the public.

Who is Ginni Thomas’ “best friend?”

The Thomases regularly refer to each other as their own “best friend.”

“I love to spend time with my wife, who is totally my best friend,” Thomas said at the Supreme Court Historical Society’s annual lecture in 2019. https://t.co/B586nPgIUW https://t.co/hC4nZL3EnO

— Jennifer Bendery (@jbendery) March 25, 2022

The cult comparisons don't stop with how she communicates. Ginni is one of the leaders of The Council for National Policy, which is very reminiscent of "The Family." The Council is a very secretive group that teams up Christian conservatives with stalwarts of the rabid Right Wing of America. Fundamental in the group are Tea Party activists, and the council has over 400 members. It was founded in 1981 to attack the supposed threat of progressives and liberals. Yes. Ginni Thomas is one of the leaders of this group.

What’s worse is that Justice Thomas doesn’t really deny the fact that him and his wife are inter-connected on these matters. In 2011, Justice Thomas said, “We are equally yoked, and we love being with each other because we love the same things. We believe in the same things. So, with my wife, and with the people around me, what I see, I’m reinforced that we are focused on defending liberty. So, I admire her and I love her for that because it keeps me going.” As many have pointed out, Justice Thomas should 100% recuse himself from any cases involving the January 6th Insurrection and the committee investigating it. Especially, after Justice Thomas was the sole dissenter on a 8-1 case involving the January 6 committee's attempts to get ahold of Trump White House records from the National Archives. Some suspect now, his dissent was to protect none other than Ginni. AOC even went so far as to say he should resign. He has, of course, said he will not recuse himself.

Clarence Thomas should resign.

If not, his failure to disclose income from right-wing organizations, recuse himself from matters involving his wife, and his vote to block the Jan 6th commission from key information must be investigated and could serve as grounds for impeachment.

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) March 29, 2022

We face numerous bills threatening Queer people, particularly the bills targeting trans youth, as well as the “Don’t Say Gay” bills in numerous states. It’s more important than ever to have clear lines between people on the bench making judicial decisions and the people in their personal lives looking to influence their professional decisions. Because these professional decisions aren’t just about some random company’s fiscal quarters; these professional decisions impact our democracy and whether or not people exist safely and with the humanity they deserve. These professional decisions impact whether or not people live or die.

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