FACT CHECK: Was Clarence Thomas’ Wife One Of The Organizers Of The January 6 Riot?
A post shared on Facebook claims Virginia “Ginni” Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, was one of the organizers of the Jan. 6, 2021 riot.
Verdict: False
There is no evidence Ginni Thomas had any involvement in organizing the events of Jan. 6, 2021. She has neither been charged with any crime in connection to the events nor subpoenaed by the Jan. 6 Committee.
Fact Check:
Ginni Thomas initially showed support for the “Stop the Steal” rally on Jan. 6 last year through several Facebook posts early that morning, according to an article from Law and Crime. “Watch MAGA crowd today best with Right Side Broadcasting and then C-Span for what the Congress does starting at 1:00 pm today. LOVE MAGA people!!!!” read Ginni Thomas’ first post at 3:33 a.m. This post was followed by another at 3:47 a.m. that read “GOD BLESS EACH OF YOU STANDING UP or PRAYING.” Screenshots of both posts are included in the article from Law and Crime.
Once the rally turned violent and protestors stormed the U.S. Capitol, Ginni Thomas added the following amendment to both posts:”[Note: written before violence in US Capitol].” Her Facebook profile disappeared days later, according to Law and Crime.
Now, after more than a year has passed since the events of Jan. 6, 2021, an image shared on Facebook claims Ginni Thomas was one of the organizers of the riot. The image shows a screenshot of a tweet that reads, “The fact that Clarence Thomas’s wife was one of the organizers of Jan 6th should be mentioned every time SCOTUS is in the news, IMHO.” (RELATED: Did Donald Trump Invoke The Insurrection Act?)
There is, however, no evidence to suggest Ginni Thomas played a role in organizing the riot. Check Your Fact searched credible news outlets, including The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal, but found no news reporting to corroborate the claim. She has not been subpoenaed by the House’s Jan. 6 Committee, according to NPR, nor does she appear on the Department of Justice’s list of “Capitol Breach Cases” which includes all “defendants charged in federal court in the District of Columbia related to crimes committed at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C, on Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021.”
This claim may stem from Ginni Thomas’ connection to the conservative student group Turning Point USA (TPUSA), the founder of which said TPUSA’s affiliated organizations would be sending more than 80 buses to last year’s Jan. 6 rally in a now-deleted tweet. Thomas previously served on the advisory council of TPUSA, according to a Feb. 28, 2018 archive of the organization’s “Governance” page.
A spokesperson for TPUSA told Check Your Fact in an email that the group’s affiliated organizations only ended up sending seven buses and noted that Ginni Thomas was not involved in the operation. The New York Times investigated the unsubstantiated claims that she was involved in the funding and organizing of these buses but found no evidence to corroborate them.
Check Your Fact has reached out to the Supreme Court for comment and will update this piece if a response is given.
Disclosure: Ginni Thomas has worked as a special correspondent for the Daily Caller, the company that owns Check Your Fact, in the past.