There are calls for Virginia "Ginni" Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, to face investigation for allegedly trying to overturn the 2020 election results after 16 Republicans were charged in Michigan over a "false elector" plot.
Ginni Thomas has long come under scrutiny over her actions in the wake of the last election, including sending text messages to Donald Trump's former chief of staff Mark Meadows urging him to help overturn the results of the election, while describing Joe Biden's fair victory as the "greatest heist of our history."
Ginni Thomas is also alleged to have sent emails to dozens of Arizona election officials and lawmakers claiming it was their "constitutional duty" to install a "clean slate of electors" who would be willing to declare Trump the winner in the Grand Canyon State in 2020. Thomas is said to have told the lawmakers to "stand strong in the face of political and media pressure" and falsely claimed the responsibility to choose electors was "yours and yours alone."
On 14 December, a group of 13 Republicans, including Arizona GOP chair Kelli Ward, met to sign a document falsely declaring themselves the "duly elected and qualified electors" for the state and that they had the power to award Arizona's 11 electoral votes for Trump, instead of the state's true winner of Biden.
Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes' office is said to be investigating the false slate of electors who attempted to claim Trump had won the state in 2020, reported The Washington Post and NBC News.
There is currently no indication that Ginni Thomas is under investigation as part of the probe. Newsweek has contacted her for comment via social media.
In December 2022, the House Select Committee investigating the January 6 attack did not recommend that the Department of Justice bring forward any charges against Ginni Thomas. Speaking to the panel about her texts to Meadows, Ginni Thomas testified: "I would take them all back if I could today."
However, social media users have called for Ginni Thomas to also face charges in the wake of Michigan's attorney general Dana Nessel announcing charges for 16 people, including Meshawn Maddock, a former co-chair of the Michigan Republican party, and Kathy Berden, a national committeewoman for the Republican National Committee.
"I've said it many times before and I'll say it again, today would be a wonderful day to investigate," tweeted Twitter user Dan Levison after news of the Michigan charges broke.
Majid Padellan, better known as the popular left-wing Twitter account Brooklyn Dad, tweeted: "Ginni Thomas 100% needs to be indicted for the role she played in trying to overturn the election."
Fellow Twitter user Jeffrey Levy added in response to charges against the alleged Michigan fake electors plotters: "Only 5 or 6 other states to go on the fake electors. Also Ginni Thomas should be indicted since she was heavily involved in the conspiracy."
Ginni Thomas' name was also suggested as a potential key suspect in the plots to overturn the last election even before Nessel's offices brought forward their charges.
"Don't forget that Clarence Thomas isn't the one in his household we're concerned about. His wife Ginni Thomas urged state lawmakers in Arizona to ignore President Biden's victory and 'choose' presidential electors to overturn the 2020 presidential election," the Citizens for Responsibility & Ethics in Washington (CREW) tweeted on July 15.
Earlier this year, Arizona AG Mayes, a Democrat, vowed to fully investigate the fake electoral scheme in the state.
"We have to make sure that it's clear to everyone it's unacceptable to try to steal an election, to undermine and overthrow an election, and that's what happened," Mayes told MSNBC in January. "We have to make sure what happened in 2020 never happens again."
While announcing the news about the Michigan fake electoral scheme charges, Nessel said: "The false electors' actions undermined the public's faith in the integrity of our elections and, we believe, also plainly violated the laws by which we administer our elections in Michigan
"The evidence will demonstrate there was no legal authority for the false electors to purport to act as 'duly elected presidential electors' and execute the false electoral documents," Nessel added. "Every serious challenge to the election had been denied, dismissed, or otherwise rejected by the time the false electors convened. There was no legitimate legal avenue or plausible use of such a document or an alternative slate of electors.
"There was only the desperate effort of these defendants, who we have charged with deliberately attempting to interfere with and overturn our free and fair election process, and along with it, the will of millions of Michigan voters."
