Pence, Ginni Thomas sought in hearings
Jan. 6 committee may subpoena the former vice president and has questions for justice’s wife about her role.
WASHINGTON — Members of the House committee investigating the Capitol riot said Sunday they may subpoena former Vice President Mike Pence and are waiting to hear from Virginia “Ginni” Thomas, wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, about her role in the attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
Lawmakers also indicated that they will release more evidence about former President Trump’s alleged effort to defraud supporters by fundraising based on false claims of a stolen presidential election.
They also pledged to provide pertinent material to the Justice Department by the end of the month for its criminal investigation. The department complained in a letter last week that the committee was complicating its investigation by not sharing transcripts from its 1,000 interviews.
“We’re not taking anything off the table in terms of witnesses who have not yet testified,” said Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Burbank), who described a Pence subpoena as “certainly a possibility.”
“We would still, I think, like to have several high-profile people come before our committee,” Schiff said.
The committee has been able to document most of the end of Trump’s call to Pence on the morning of Jan. 6, 2021, before the insurrection. That is when Trump made his final plea to his vice president to stop the certification of Joe Biden’s victory as Pence presided over the electoral college count in Congress. Committee members have not yet documented directly what Pence said in response.
The committee chairman, Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), recently said the members were still “engaging” with Pence’s lawyers while also suggesting that it may not be necessary for him to appear because of testimony from many of his closest aides.
Committee members also hope to learn more about Ginni Thomas’ effort to keep Trump in office and the potential conflicts of interest posed on her husband in Jan. 6 cases that come before the Supreme Court.
Republican state Rep. Rusty Bowers, the Arizona House speaker, is scheduled to testify at the committee’s hearing Tuesday, focusing on state officials who were contacted by Trump and the White House as the president tried to overturn the results. Bowers is likely to be asked about emails he received from Ginni Thomas urging him and other state officials to set aside Biden’s 2020 win and choose their own set of electors.
“We have questions for her, and we may have questions for him as well,” said Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-San Jose).
Thomas has publicly indicated that she “can’t wait” to appear before the committee after receiving a request by letter last week.
Along with emailing Arizona officials, Thomas, who attended a rally Trump held just before the Capitol riot, wrote to then-White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows in the weeks after the election, encouraging him to work to overturn Biden’s victory. Emails recently obtained by the committee show that Thomas also communicated with John Eastman, the lawyer who played a key role on behalf of Trump in efforts to pressure Pence to overturn the election.
“I think the committee will be interested in, among other things, whether this was discussed with Justice Thomas, given that he was ruling on cases impacting whether we would get some of this information,” Schiff said.
In January, Thomas was the lone member of the court who supported a bid by Trump to withhold documents from the Jan 6. committee.
Lofgren said the committee would release additional evidence it has gathered about Trump possibly committing fraud by fundraising off a false claim that the election was stolen.
Rep. Adam Kinzinger (RIll.) said that at the end of the committee’s hearings, the public will have a clear picture of a “failure of the oath” by Trump.
“I think what we’re presenting before the American people certainly would rise to a level of criminal involvement by a president,” he said.
Kinzinger said he and his family have received threats because of his role on the committee. He spoke of his concern that “there’s violence in the future ... and until we get a grip on telling people the truth, we can’t expect any differently.”
Schiff appeared on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Lofgren was on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” and Kinzinger was on ABC’s “This Week.”