(WASHINGTON) — Ginni Thomas, the wife of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, appeared in person at the House Jan. 6 committee’s offices on Thursday morning for a closed-door interview.
Cameras caught Ginni Thomas walking to the conference room around 9:30 a.m. Her meeting ended around 2 p.m.
The select committee investigating the U.S. Capitol attack has sought to question Ginni Thomas over her efforts to push state officials to reject the outcome of the 2020 election. She was also communicating with members of the White House, including President Donald Trump’s last chief of staff, Mark Meadows, about efforts to overturn Trump’s defeat.
Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., said after Ginni Thomas was interviewed that she still believes the 2020 election was stolen and answered “some” questions — but he wouldn’t characterize what she answered or not.
Thompson later said she didn’t decline to answer any questions while he was there, which he said was for one hour.
In her opening statement to the committee, a copy of which was obtained by ABC News, Ginni Thomas said she had long “been active in political/public policy work” — but that her husband did not share her interests.
She said she didn’t believe her husband’s work was within the scope of the committee’s investigation and that her husband had never spoken with her about pending cases before the high court.
“It’s an iron-clad rule in our home,” she told the committee, insisting that Justice Thomas “is independent and stubborn.”
In his own statement, Ginni Thomas’ attorney, Mark Paoletta, said she “answered all the Committee’s questions” and “was happy to cooperate with the Committee to clear up the misconceptions about her activities surrounding the 2020 elections.”
Ginni Thomas’ political activism has been under scrutiny given her marriage to a Supreme Court justice and her efforts to undercut the last presidential race. Records obtained by ABC News earlier this year showed she emailed Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers and Arizona state Rep. Shawnna Bolick asking them to “fight back against fraud” in the days after the November 2020 election.
Her attorney reiterated in his statement on Thursday that she has “condemned the violence on January 6, as she abhors violence on any side of the aisle.”
“As she has said from the outset, Mrs. Thomas had significant concerns about fraud and irregularities in the 2020 election,” Paoletta contended. “And, as she told the Committee, her minimal and mainstream activity focused on ensuring that reports of fraud and irregularities were investigated. Beyond that, she played no role in any events after the 2020 election results.”
Sources have previously said that it was unlikely that Ginni Thomas’ interview would be played during the committee hearing originally scheduled for Wednesday. But since that hearing is now expected to be rescheduled for a later date, after Hurricane Ian hit Florida, it’s possible clips from her sit-down could be seen publicly.
The committee hasn’t formally announced a new date for the hearing, but Thompson has told reporters that he “doubts” it would be scheduled for next week.
He said members would meet to discuss a new date this week. Asked if it was possible the next hearing could be delayed until after the election, Thompson told ABC News, “I would think not, because we got a report to write.”
Ginni Thomas’ attorney confirmed last week she would be meeting with the committee.
The committee sent a letter to her requesting an interview in June, after revelations about emails that sources said she exchanged with right-wing lawyer John Eastman, whom the committee’s described as a leader of the legal scheme to fraudulently overturn Trump’s election loss.
The committee vice-chair, Wyoming Republican Rep. Liz Cheney, told CNN at the time that they were prepared to consider subpoenaing Ginni Thomas for an interview.
The Jan. 6 committee is expected to release a final report of its findings and recommendations later this year.
ABC News’ Gabe Ferris contributed to this report.
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