(Bloomberg) -- The lawyer for Virginia “Ginni” Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, says there is “no sufficient basis” yet for her to testify to the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the US Capitol.
In a letter dated Tuesday, lawyer Mark Paoletta also tells the committee the Thomases “have been subjected to an avalanche of death threats and other abuse by the unprecedented assault on the conservative Supreme Court Justices and their families.”
The committee’s chairman, Bennie Thompson, earlier this month sent a letter requesting that Ginni Thomas voluntarily sit for questioning about her alleged involvement in plans to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
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That request had come after emails surfaced from then-President Donald Trump’s lawyer John Eastman showing she was in contact with the attorney and her efforts to prevent Joe Biden from taking office were more extensive than previously known.
But Paoletta, in his letter, argues the Eastman emails provide no basis to interview her. He also writes that her previously known text messaging to Trump’s last White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows simply expressed concerns about the 2020 results and also do not warrant questioning.
Paoletta does acknowledge that Ginni Thomas had previously “expressed a willingness to try to come before the Committee as a means of clearing her name.” But he added that based on his understanding of the facts the committee has in its possession, “I do not believe there is currently a sufficient basis to speak with Mrs. Thomas.”
There was no immediate response from a committee spokesman. The letter was previously reported by the New York Times.
(Corrects date in first paragraph.)
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