Fogbow

The Long Crusade of Clarence and Ginni Thomas
The Supreme Court justice and his wife battled for years for a more conservative America. New reporting shows how far she was willing to go after Donald Trump’s 2020 election loss.

By Danny Hakim and Jo Becker
Feb. 22, 2022

The call to action was titled “Election Results and Legal Battles: What Now?” Shared in the days after the 2020 presidential election, it urged the members of an influential if secretive right-wing group to contact legislators in three of the swing states that tipped the balance for Joe Biden — Arizona, Georgia and Pennsylvania. The aim was audacious: Keep President Donald J. Trump in power.

The group, the Council for National Policy, brings together old-school Republican luminaries, Christian conservatives, Tea Party activists and MAGA operatives, with more than 400 members who include leaders of organizations like the Federalist Society, the National Rifle Association and the Family Research Council. Founded in 1981 as a counterweight to liberalism, the group was hailed by President Ronald Reagan as seeking the “return of righteousness, justice and truth” to America.

As Trump insisted, without evidence, that fraud had cheated him of victory, conservative groups rushed to rally behind him. The council stood out, however, not only because of its pedigree but also because one of its newest leaders was Virginia Thomas, the wife of Justice Clarence Thomas and a longtime activist in right-wing circles. She had taken on a prominent role at the council during the Trump years and by 2019 had joined the nine-member board of C.N.P. Action, an arm of the council organized as a 501(c)4 under a provision of the tax code that allows for direct political advocacy. It was C.N.P. Action that circulated the November “action steps” document, the existence of which has not been previously reported. It instructed members to pressure Republican lawmakers into challenging the election results and appointing alternate slates of electors: “Demand that they not abandon their Constitutional responsibilities during a time such as this.”

Such a plan, if carried out successfully, would have almost certainly landed before the Supreme Court — and Ginni Thomas’s husband. In fact, Trump was already calling for that to happen. In a Dec. 2 speech at the White House, the president falsely claimed that “millions of votes were cast illegally in swing states alone” and said he hoped “the Supreme Court of the United States will see it” and “will do what’s right for our country, because our country cannot live with this kind of an election.”

The Thomases have long posed a unique quandary in Washington. Because Supreme Court justices do not want to be perceived as partisan, they tend to avoid political events and entanglements, and their spouses often keep low profiles. But the Thomases have defied such norms. Since the founding of the nation, no spouse of a sitting Supreme Court justice has been as overt a political activist as Ginni Thomas. In addition to her perch at the Council for National Policy, she founded a group called Groundswell with the support of Stephen K. Bannon, the hard-line nationalist and former Trump adviser. It holds a weekly meeting of influential conservatives, many of whom work directly on issues that have come before the court.




https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/22/maga ... homas.html

Council for National Policy

An ex-Trump aide said a White House gathering with Justice Clarence Thomas' wife, Ginni Thomas, was 'the craziest meeting I've ever been to'
John L. Dorman
Tue, February 22, 2022, 9:13 PM·3 min read

An ex-Trump aide called a meeting between the former president and Ginni Thomas as the "craziest" meeting he'd ever attended.

Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, is a longtime conservative activist.

As Trump sought to court the justice, Ginni Thomas saw her opening, per a NYT Magazine report.

An aide to former President Donald Trump described a 2019 White House gathering with the then-president and Ginni Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, as the "craziest" meeting he'd ever attended, according to The New York Times Magazine.

Ginni Thomas — an attorney and conservative activist — has been in the political trenches with right-leaning leaders for decades. Her influence is so valued among conservative activists — and Justice Thomas — that she even came to the White House for what was supposed to be a private lunch between Trump and her husband, according to the magazine.

Leonard Leo, the former executive vice president of the conservative Federalist Society, told the magazine that Trump sought to cultivate a relationship with Justice Thomas once he realized the immense popularity of the jurist among the Republican base, creating an opening for Ginni Thomas with the then-president.

The magazine also detailed newly-reported ties between Ginni Thomas and organizers of a January 6, 2021 rally in support of Trump, along with efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results, in which Joe Biden oust the former president in a decisive 306-232 Electoral College victory.

According to nine former Trump aides and advisors, who spoke to the magazine anonymously, the ensuing meetings with Ginni Thomas created a sense of confusion among the staffers.

Several of the staffers were unsure of Ginni Thomas' role and wondered if she was speaking as an activist or as a paid consultant, while also highlighting her insistence on promoting far-right candidates for positions within the Trump administration, per the magazine.





https://www.yahoo.com/news/ex-trump-aid ... 29622.html

Chilidog wrote: ↑Fri Mar 25, 2022 9:55 am Putting aside the actions of Virginia Thomas, the mere fact that Clarence did NOT recuse himself from a case where he had a clear and absolute conflict of interest is inexcusable.

The fact that the vote wasn't even close and he was the lone dissent only underscores the hubris and arrogance of the man.

Reality Check wrote: ↑Fri Mar 25, 2022 10:04 am

Chilidog wrote: ↑Fri Mar 25, 2022 9:55 am Putting aside the actions of Virginia Thomas, the mere fact that Clarence did NOT recuse himself from a case where he had a clear and absolute conflict of interest is inexcusable.

The fact that the vote wasn't even close and he was the lone dissent only underscores the hubris and arrogance of the man.

raison de arizona wrote: ↑Fri Mar 25, 2022 11:12 am Is not the only remedy here impeachment?

raison de arizona wrote: ↑Fri Mar 25, 2022 11:12 am Is not the only remedy here impeachment?

Mentions on Fox News so far today

Hunter Biden: 9
Virginia Thomas: 0

northland10 wrote: ↑Fri Mar 25, 2022 2:03 pm Let's please stop the overblown hyperbole. In 2020 we had an election and Biden was elected president despite some of the right trying to stop it. Democratic caucuses control both houses though not strongly. The fact that some Democratic senators are opposing their own caucus is not an end to democracy, it is the sloppiness of democracy. If they were required to vote how their party tells them, well, that would be a democracy problem.

Certainly, things are really messy right now and there are forces that want to reverse the gains we have made over the last 60 years but our 200+ year journey has never been a conflict-free one. Was democracy better in the 50s when many people of color could not vote and groups like House Un-American Activities Committee were stomping our freedoms in the name of freedom?

Kendra wrote: ↑Fri Mar 25, 2022 1:09 pm

Mentions on Fox News so far today

Hunter Biden: 9
Virginia Thomas: 0

raison de arizona wrote: ↑Fri Mar 25, 2022 2:08 pm

northland10 wrote: ↑Fri Mar 25, 2022 2:03 pm Let's please stop the overblown hyperbole. In 2020 we had an election and Biden was elected president despite some of the right trying to stop it. Democratic caucuses control both houses though not strongly. The fact that some Democratic senators are opposing their own caucus is not an end to democracy, it is the sloppiness of democracy. If they were required to vote how their party tells them, well, that would be a democracy problem.

Certainly, things are really messy right now and there are forces that want to reverse the gains we have made over the last 60 years but our 200+ year journey has never been a conflict-free one. Was democracy better in the 50s when many people of color could not vote and groups like House Un-American Activities Committee were stomping our freedoms in the name of freedom?

The US is generally rated as a "Deficient Democracy" by most standards and organizations these days. It could certainly be worse, and I fear it will be if Republicans take control in 2022. I believe what we are currently experiencing goes further than mere sloppiness.