(PresidentialHill.com)- On Tuesday, the attorney for Virginia “Ginni” Thomas sent a response to the January 6 select committee’s formal request to speak with Thomas.
In his response to the committee, Mark Paoletta, Thomas’s attorney noted that while Ginni Thomas is willing to speak to them, he doesn’t understand the committee’s “need to speak with Mrs. Thomas.” Paoletta asked the committee to provide “a better justification” for why Thomas’ testimony is relevant to the committee’s investigation before he recommends she meet with them.
He argued that the emails provided to the committee by John Eastman “provide no basis” for interviewing Thomas. Paoletta notes that in the committee’s request to Thomas, it claimed it had obtained evidence of a connection between Eastman and Thomas, but the committee has failed to produce “this alleged ‘evidence.’”
Paoletta blasted the committee for leaks to the press designed to create the perception that Ginni Thomas tried to “overturn the election.” He reminded the committee that the emails between Thomas and Eastman “show no such thing.”
He also noted that Thomas’ text messages to former chief of staff Mark Meadows were “her personal views” and sent in her “personal capacity as a private citizen.” He wrote that he fails to see how those texts would be “remotely relevant to the Committee’s legislative purpose,” and asked the committee to “provide additional information” so he can understand why they need to speak with Thomas.
Paoletta closed his letter by questioning the committee’s “intentions.” He suggested Chairman Bennie Thompson has “some animus” toward Justice Clarence Thomas and expressed concern that the committee would be unable to be fair to Ginni Thomas.
He said Thomas already acknowledged that she attended the rally on January 6 but left before the President’s speech and “well before any individuals began marching to the Capitol.” He reiterated that she was not there in an official capacity and held no official role in either the White House or the Trump campaign.
Paoletta said Thomas was willing to come before the committee “as a means of clearing her name.” But, he added, based on his “understanding of the facts the Committee has in its possession,” he doesn’t believe there is a “sufficient basis to speak with Mrs. Thomas.”
