The wife of conservative Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas spoke at a conference that featured the founder of the far-right militia group, the Oath Keepers which prosecutors say was prepared to launch a violent attack on Jan. 6 to stop the peaceful transfer of power.
According to the New Yorker, Virginia “Ginni” Thomas co-hosted a Remember the Ladies Banquet at the 2010 Liberty XPO & Symposium, which has been described as the “largest conservative training event in history,” alongside Moms for America president Kimberly Fletcher.
The line-up of speakers at the event included Stewart Rhodes, the founder of the Oath Keepers who was arrested earlier this month and charged with seditious conspiracy in connection to the January 6 insurrection. He has pleaded not guilty.
The New Yorker notes that this is not Thomas’ only connection to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. Fletcher, Thomas’ co-host at the symposium gave two speeches on Jan. 5, the day before the riot in which she spread the false claim that the 2020 election had been stolen from former President Donald Trump.
Thomas had also served on the advisory board for pro-Trump student group, Turning Point USA. The group allegedly sent “busloads of protestors” to Washington DC to participate in the Capitol attack.
The revelation of Thomas’ connections to groups and individuals connected to the Capitol riot comes as the Supreme Court denied a request from Donald Trump to block the House committee investigating the riot from obtaining presidential records connected to Jan. 6 for their investigation.
Justice Clarence Thomas, Ginni’s husband was the lone dissenting vote.
According to the New Yorker, Thomas is also involved with people whose cases have been presented before her husband in the Supreme Court.
Bruce Green, a legal ethics professor at Fordham told the New Yorker that the appearance of Thomas’ political pursuits has an impact on the perception of justice and it is “awful.”
“They look like a mom-and-pop political-hack group, where she does the political stuff and he does the judging,” Green said adding, “she’s got the ear of a Justice, and surely they talk about their work.”
