Skip to content

Thursday, Sep. 29, 2022

Did the wife of US Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas push Wisconsin lawmakers to throw out votes from the 2020 election?

Jacob Alabab-Moser, Wisconsin Watch
yes

Virginia "Ginni" Thomas, the conservative activist and wife of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, emailed at least three Wisconsin state lawmakers on Nov. 9, 2022, in an attempt to persuade them to overturn the results of the presidential election, in which Democrat Joe Biden defeated Republican President Donald Trump.  

Thomas sent the emails to state Rep. Gary Tauchen and state Sens. Kathy Bernier and Andre Jacque, at virtually the same time that she emailed over two dozen Arizona lawmakers with the same message: "ensure that a clean slate of Electors is chosen for our state" and "fight back against fraud."

Bernier said she did not recall receiving the email and that aside from that, she had no contact with Thomas. 

In September, Thomas agreed to be interviewed by the U.S. House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.

See a full discussion of this at Wisconsin Watch

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

About fact briefs

Fact briefs are bite-sized, well-sourced explanations that offer clear "yes" or "no" answers to questions, confusions, and unsupported claims circulating online. They rely on publicly available data and documents, often from the original source. Fact briefs are written and published by Gigafact contributor publications.

See all fact briefs

Wisconsin Watch, the news arm of the nonpartisan, nonprofit Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism, increases the quality and quantity of investigative reporting in Wisconsin, while training current and future investigative journalists. Its work fosters an informed citizenry and strengthens democracy.

Learn More

Latest Fact Briefs

Be a Friend of facts

Help us fund more great fact briefs like this one.