Thomas, a conservative activist and the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, appears open to talk to the committee, telling the conservative newspaper The Daily Caller that “she can’t wait to clear up the misconceptions.”
“I look forward to talking to them,” she said in an interview published Thursday.
The commission’s request follows revelations late Wednesday that the commission has emailed correspondence between Thomas and conservative lawyer John Eastman, according to a source familiar with the commission.
The source, who spoke to CNN, will not provide details on the content of the emails or say whether they are direct messages between the two or part of a larger group correspondence. A separate source said the emails were part of a tranche of communications to the commission after a federal judge ruled that Eastman’s correspondence was linked to the work of former President Donald Trump’s commission of inquiry and efforts to cancel the 2020 presidential election. in the months leading up to January 6, 2021.
Thomas has been criticized for her political activism and involvement in allegations of voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election. She previously admitted to attending a rally before the January 6 violent attack on the US Capitol, but left earlier. Some progressives and some legal ethics experts see her activity as a conflict of interest for her husband, who serves in the nation’s supreme court.
Earlier revelations from Thomas and then-White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, received by the commission, show that Thomas regularly registered with Meadows to encourage him to insist on allegations of voter fraud and work for preventing the certification of elections.
Thomas has repeatedly said that her political activity has nothing to do with her husband’s work in the Supreme Court. Judge Thomas has been involved in Supreme Court cases related to election disputes in 2020 and has refused to withdraw from related cases. Eastman on Thursday “categorically” denied having had discussions with Thomas and her husband about “any pending or possibly pending court issues.” 2020 or at any other time, “he wrote, in part in a post on his Substack. “, was prompted by a report from a publication called the Vision Times.
Thompson on Thursday rejected complaints from the Justice Department that the House of Representatives committee released all of its transcripts to help with the department’s investigation, saying it would hand over the department’s transcripts “on time.”
“We will not stop what we are doing to share the information we have received so far with the Ministry of Justice. We have to do our job,” he said.
Asked if the committee would do so by the end of the week, the congressman said no, but added: “That doesn’t mean we won’t cooperate.”
Representative Adam Schiff, a member of the committee, told CNN’s Jake Tapper on The Lead on Thursday night that part of the issue is the breadth of what the Justice Department wants.
“I’ve been involved in several high-profile investigations, I’ve never seen the Department of Justice say, ‘Give us all your files,'” said the California Democrat. “I think the challenge is in the breadth of their request, but we will work on it and make sure they get what they need.”
“We work with them to make sure they get what they need, in line with our own investigative needs,” Schiff said. “We want them to be successful. We want them to bring to justice anyone who has broken the law, and we are confident that we will be able to help them prosecute each of the offenders involved.”
This story was updated with further developments on Thursday.
CNN’s Manu Raju, Lauren Koenig, Morgan Reimer and Annie Grayer contributed to this report.
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