The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 riot on Capitol Hill will likely pursue an interview with Virginia Thomas, wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, a source told the Washington Post.
Members of the committee will hold internal deliberations Monday about whether they should ask Virginia Thomas to appear for a voluntary deposition, following revelations she voiced support for controversial lawyer Sidney Powell‘s bid to challenge the 2020 election results, per Bloomberg.
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“Mark (don’t want to wake you),” Virginia Thomas reportedly wrote to Meadows on Nov. 19, 2020. “Sounds like Sidney and her team are getting inundated with evidence of fraud. Make a plan. Release the Kraken and save us from the left taking America down.”
The prospect of interviewing Virginia Thomas had previously been subject to debate within the committee following reports that she attended the Jan. 6 rally before the riot transpired. Some members previously expressed concerns it could distract from more pressing endeavors. But following revelations about the text messages to Meadows, Chairman Rep. Bennie Thompson and Vice-Chairwoman Rep. Liz Cheney appear to be in favor of an interview request, Bloomberg reported.
So far, members of the committee have been relatively quiet in public about the revelations. For example, committee member Rep. Adam Kinzinger declined to corroborate the existence of Virginia Thomas’s reported text messages during an appearance on CBS’s Face The Nation Sunday.
News of the text messages was first reported by the Washington Post last Thursday while her husband was still in the hospital with flu-like symptoms. Although Virginia Thomas has been a conservative activist for many years, her support of Powell raised eyebrows because of her husband’s position on the Supreme Court and his potential legal power over cases involving the 2020 election.
Earlier this year, Clarence Thomas was the only justice to dissent against the high court’s decision to block former President Donald Trump’s effort to block the release of key records to the Jan. 6 committee. His wife’s actions have raised questions about possible conflicts of interest in such decision-making.
A growing list of Democratic politicians, including Sens. Ron Wyden and Amy Klobuchar, have called on him to recuse himself from any hearings related to the Jan. 6 riot. As of yet, Clarence Thomas has not announced that he will recuse himself from such cases.
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The Washington Examiner reached out to a spokesperson for the committee for comment but did not receive a response. In addition to deliberating over Virginia Thomas, the panel will also hold a vote Monday night on whether to recommend contempt charges against Dan Scavino and Peter Navarro for failing to comply with its subpoenas.
Throughout the course of its inquiry, the committee has conducted over 350 interviews and is reportedly gearing up for public hearings in May. With Republicans seemingly on the precipice of regaining control of the House in the 2022 elections, the committee will likely try to wrap up its work before the new Congress is sworn in next year. An interim report on its findings is expected to be released this week, and the committee is reportedly hiring outside talent to write its final report.
