Virginia “Ginni” Thomas, the wife of conservative Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, could be forced to testify about her role in the insurrection on Jan. 6, according to Rep. Liz Cheney, who is vice chair of the committee investigating the events surrounding the attack on the U.S. Capitol.
In an interview with CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday, the Wyoming Republican said the committee is talking to the attorneys of Ginni Thomas and urging her to cooperate.
“We certainly hope that she will agree to come in voluntarily, but the committee is fully prepared to contemplate a subpoena if she does not,” Cheney said. “I hope it doesn’t get to that. I hope she will come in voluntarily.”
“It’s very important for us to speak to her,” Cheney said.
Thomas is one of many people that the congressional committee has sought information from as it investigates the events of Jan. 6, 2021. Earlier this year, NBC News and other outlets obtained a series of text messages that Thomas reportedly sent to former President Donald Trump’s chief of staff Mark Meadows backing the false claim that the 2020 presidential election was stolen.
Thomas reportedly encouraged Meadows to overturn President Joe Biden’s election victory.
When news outlets projected Biden as the winner of the election on Nov. 10, Thomas reportedly wrote to Meadows: ”Help This Great President stand firm, Mark!!!…You are the leader, with him, who is standing for America’s constitutional governance at the precipice. The majority knows Biden and the Left is attempting the greatest Heist of our History.”
Cheney and the rest of the Jan. 6 committee have also tried to compel other people close to Trump or with access to the White House to come forward and testify about that day’s events — in some cases, without success.
Former Trump advisor Steve Bannon was found guilty on Friday of two counts of contempt of Congress after a federal trial in Washington, D.C., after he refused to cooperate with the Jan. 6 committee’s subpoena.