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- Liz Cheney said the January 6 panel was "fully prepared to contemplate a subpoena" for Ginni Thomas.
- Cheney said it was "very important" for the committee to speak with the conservative activist.
- Ginni Thomas has been linked to GOP efforts to overturn now-President Joe Biden's 2020 victory.
Rep. Liz Cheney on Sunday said the House January 6 committee is "fully prepared to contemplate" subpoena Ginni Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, if she won't voluntarily appear before the panel.
During an interview on CNN's "State of the Union," Cheney told host Jake Tapper that it was "very important" for the panel to speak with the conservative activist, who was involved in efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
"The committee is engaged with her counsel. We certainly hope that she will agree to come in voluntarily but the committee is fully prepared to contemplate a subpoena if she does not," the Wyoming Republican said.
"I hope it doesn't get to that. I hope she will come in voluntarily. It's very important for us to speak with her," she added.
Last month, Ginni Thomas told The Daily Caller that she was eager to speak with the panel.
"I can't wait to clear up misconceptions. I look forward to talking to them," she said at the time.
Days later, Ginni Thomas' attorney Mark Paoletta said that he had "serious concerns" about the interview and noted that it was a "particularly stressful time" for his client given the publicity surrounding high-profile Supreme Court decisions where her husband was subject to intense scrutiny.
Thomas in recent months has come under fire for her involvement in GOP efforts to challenge the 2020 presidential election.
The January 6 panel already has a record of messages that Ginni Thomas exchanged with then-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows in the aftermath of the 2020 contest between now-President Joe Biden and Donald Trump, where she pushed for the then-president not to concede the race.
"It takes time for the army who is gathering for his back," she wrote in a text message to Meadows on November 6, 2020.
Last month, Democratic Rep. Bill Pascrell of New Jersey called on Justice Thomas to resign, pointing to a Washington Post report, where sources in the January 6 investigation said that Ginni Thomas communicated with attorney John Eastman.
Previously unreported emails between Eastman and Ginni Thomas revealed her more substantial involvement in efforts to overturn the 2020 election, per the report.
Ginni Thomas also emailed 29 Republican lawmakers in Arizona in an effort to reverse Trump's loss in the state, which Biden narrowly won in 2020 after decades of GOP dominance in presidential races, per documents obtained by The Washington Post earlier this year.
source https://www.businessinsider.com/liz-cheney-ginni-clarence-thomas-january-6-committee-subpoena-election-2022-7