Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas' wife says she attended January 6 rally, but denies ties to organizers: report

• Ginni Thomas said she attended the January 6, 2021 rally but got cold and left early.
• Thomas denied that she had any ties to the January 6 rally and efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas' wife, Virginia "Ginni" Thomas, said she attended the Ellipse rally in Washington on January 6, 2021, but got cold and left early before then-President Donald Trump took the stage.

Thomas made the comments during an interview with the Washington Free Beacon published Monday, in which she also denied having any ties to organizing the rally and to efforts to challenge the 2020 election results.

"I played no role with those who were planning and leading the Jan. 6 events," Thomas, a longtime right-wing activist, told the conservative news outlet.

Both the New York Times Magazine and The New Yorker previously reported that Thomas was linked to organizers of the January 6 rally and served on the board of a conservative group that distributed documents about challenging the 2020 election results.

And in December 2021, Thomas signed a letter from the Council for National Policy's political arm condemning the House committee investigating the events of January 6, arguing the committee amounts to "legal harassment" of "private citizens who have done nothing wrong" and "brings disrespect to our country's rule of law."

The Times reported that Dustin Stockton, who helped organize the rally at Washington's Ellipse where President Donald Trump gave a speech, said Thomas had played a peace-keeping role between organizers at the rally.

"The way it was presented to me was that Ginni was uniting these different factions around a singular mission on January 6," Stockton said. The Times noted that other rally organizers disputed Stockton's account of Thomas' involvement but didn't offer specifics.

Thomas rejected the claims, telling the Free Beacon: "There are other stories saying I mediated feuding factions of leaders for that day. I did not."

The Washington Post reported last month that Thomas shared a Facebook post on January 6, before Trump supporters violently stormed the Capitol. "LOVE MAGA people!!!! GOD BLESS EACH OF YOU STANDING UP OR PRAYING," she wrote. Thomas has since taken down her Facebook page, and later apologized to her husband's former law clerks over her support for the "Stop the Steal" rally.

"I owe you all an apology. I have likely imposed on you my lifetime passions," Thomas wrote in an email. "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."

Thomas told the Free Beacon she was "disappointed and frustrated that there was violence that happened following a peaceful gathering of Trump supporters on the Ellipse on Jan. 6."

The Times also reported that Thomas served on the board of the political arm of the Council for National Policy, a secretive group of powerful conservatives, which circulated a document shortly after the 2020 election urging Republican state lawmakers to challenge the results.

According to The Times, the group also shared a newsletter titled "Five States and the Election Irregularities and Issues," featuring five swing states where Trump sought to overturn the results. The newsletter pointed to "historical, legal precedent for Congress to count a slate of electors different from that certified by the Governor of the state."

Thomas told the Free Beacon that she didn't play any part in crafting the documents, and she hadn't seen them or distributed them.

"I must admit that I do not attend many of those separate meetings, nor do I attend many of their phone calls they have," Thomas told the news outlet. "At CNP, I have moderated a session here and there. I delivered some remarks there once too."

Thomas' advocacy has raised concerns about a conflict of interest for the Supreme Court. But Thomas insisted that her work has no impact on her husband's work on the nation's highest court.

"Like so many married couples, we share many of the same ideals, principles, and aspirations for America," Thomas said. "But we have our own separate careers, and our own ideas and opinions too. Clarence doesn't discuss his work with me, and I don't involve him in my work."

Earlier this year, the Supreme Court rejected Trump's request to block the release of some of his White House records to the House select committee investigating January 6. Justice Thomas was the sole dissenter.