PHOENIX – Ginni Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, urged Arizona state lawmakers to reverse former President Donald Trump’s election loss in 2020 by choosing electors themselves.
The Washington Post first reported Friday on a move that adds new detail to the pressure campaign by national conservative figures and Arizona residents on state and local officials to avert Trump’s narrow defeat.
Ginni Thomas’ activism in the upper echelons of the conservative movement in Washington has raised cries for Clarence Thomas to recuse himself from some cases and for the adoption of clear ethics rules for the high court.
Her Arizona outreach came in a pair of emails to Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers, R-Mesa, and state Rep. Shawnna Bolick, R-Phoenix, who was part of the committee overseeing elections, the Post reported.
More:Ginni Thomas’ texts to Trump aides reopen battle over when Supreme Court justices should recuse
Bowers did not respond to Thomas’ message, according to records obtained Friday by The Arizona Republic.
Bolick, who is married to Arizona Supreme Court Justice Clint Bolick, conveyed a personal relationship with the Thomases and told her how to file a formal complaint.
A spokesperson for Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich did not immediately say whether Thomas filed a formal complaint alleging fraud.
Thomas has been a strong supporter of Trump and her outreach came just after media organizations had called Arizona for President Joe Biden in what proved to be the closest race in the country. She didn’t mention any candidate by name, but given Biden’s apparent victory at the time, the messages unmistakably urged a different result.
“Article II of the United States Constitution gives you an awesome responsibility: to choose our state’s Electors,” Thomas wrote in a Nov. 9 email, the Post said. Please “take action to ensure that a clean slate of Electors is chosen.”
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She told the lawmakers to “stand strong in the face of political and media pressure” and said they had the “power to fight back against fraud.”
Neither Thomas, Bowers nor Bolick, were immediately available for comment.
The messages are a reminder of how quickly Trump supporters concluded widespread election fraud, even as ballots were still being officially counted, and the radical plan for GOP-controlled states to pick electors to override voter choices was already being pursued in high places.
US Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., suggested in a text message to Mark Meadows, Trump’s then-chief of staff, on Nov. 6 — three days after the election — that in “states where there’s been shenanigans” he submit alternate voters for Trump and have Republican-led legislatures formally support him despite apparent losses with voters, according to CNN, which obtained Meadows’ messages.
The Biggs message includes language like “a look doors” where Biggs may have intended to say “electors.”
“I’m sure you have heard of this proposal,” Biggs wrote. “It is to encourage the state legislatures to appoint a look doors in the various states where there’s been shenanigans. If I understand right most of those states have Republican Legislature’s. It seems to be behave with glorified Bush as well as the Constitution. And, well highly controversial, it can’t be much more controversial than the lunacy that were sitting out there now. and considering lobbying for that?
“I love it,” Meadows replied.
Thomas also was reportedly in touch with Meadows during this period.
Illegitimate alternate elector paperwork was submitted to Congress from seven states — including Arizona — as part of an effort intended to keep Trump in office.
Reach the reporter Ronald J. Hansen at [email protected] or 602-444-4493. Follow him on Twitter @ronaldjhansen.
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George is Digismak’s reported cum editor with 13 years of experience in Journalism