Virginia "Ginni" Lamp Thomas

Virginia "Ginni" Lamp Thomas Ginni Thomas speaking at the 2017 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in National Harbor, Maryland.
Personal Details
Name	Virginia "Ginni" Lamp Thomas
Born	1957-02-23
Birthplace	Omaha, Nebraska, U.S.A.
Spouse	Clarence Thomas  (m. 1987)
Marital status	Married
Parents	Father: Donald Lamp  (engineer; Republican) Mother: Marjorie Lamp  (stay-at-home mother; Republican)
Siblings	Youngest of four siblings
Nationality	American
Residence	Virginia
Education	Creighton University  (B.A.  |  J.D.)
Occupation	Attorney Conservative activist Lobbyist Political activist Public-policy analyst
Known for	Aberrant behavior Associations with ultra-conservative / far-right think tanks, influencers, individuals Conservatism Dark money lobbying Disinformation; propaganda Far-right ideology Influence peddling (wife of SCOTUS  Associate Justice Clarence Thomas) Political advocacy, lobbying Transphobia Trumpism
Religion	Roman Catholic
Political party	Republican Party
Affiliations	Council for National Policy  (member) Council for National Policy Action  (Director  |  source) Daily Caller  (past affiliation: disinformation source) Groundswell  (leader; conservative coalition) Heritage Foundation, The  (member; conservative think tank) Liberty Central  (founder; conservative political advocacy) Lifespring  (past affiliation: abusive cult) Liberty Consulting  (founder) Client: Center for Security Policy (founder: Frank Gaffney  |  source) National Association of Scholars  (advisory board) Turning Point USA  (advisory council; conservatism on campuses) Turning Point Action  (advisory board)
Political position	Right-wing politics
Ideology	Conservative Christian Right Conservatism in the United States Far-right politics Trumpism

Background

Virginia "Ginni" Lamp Thomas is an American attorney and conservative activist.

Ginni Thomas began her career working for United States House of Representatives member Hal Daub. After graduating from Creighton University School of Law, Ginni Thomas worked at the United States Chamber of Commerce. Thomas went on to work for the United States Department of Labor and as an aide for U.S. Representative Dick Armey. In 2000, Thomas joined The Heritage Foundation, where she was a White House liaison between The Heritage Foundation and the George W. Bush administration.

Ginni Thomas is married to Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court   Clarence Thomas. Ginni Thomas' conservative commentary and activism have made her a controversial figure, particularly since the spouses of Supreme Court justices typically stay out of politics.

In 2009, Ginni Thomas started Liberty Central, a conservative political advocacy nonprofit associated with the Tea Party movement. Ginni Thomas founded Liberty Consulting in 2010 [although an active corporation, Liberty Consulting has no web page; an old web link - http://libertyinc.co/site/about - is dead in 2022, and not available via Internet Archive].

Ginni Thomas supported Donald Trump during his presidency, offering recommendations to the Trump administration on individuals to hire through her work with the conservative coalition Groundswell group. Thomas made an early social media endorsement of the 2021-01-06 Trump rally that preceded the 2021 storming of the United States Capitol  [2021 United States Capitol attack]. Thomas' support of the Trump rally occurred before the violence took place, and she later apologized for contributing to a rift among Clarence Thomas' former Supreme Court clerks.

Early Life and Education

Ginni Thomas grew up in Omaha, Nebraska, the youngest of four children born to Donald Lamp, an engineer who owned his own firm, and Marjorie Lamp, a stay-at-home mother. Ginni Thomas' parents were Republicans.

Ginni Thomas attended Westside High School in Omaha (Nebraska), where she was a member of the student government, the debate club, and the Republican club. While Thomas was in high school, her ambition was to be a member of Congress. Thomas enrolled in a woman's college in Virginia because of its proximity to Washington, D.C., subsequently transferred to the University of Nebraska, and then moved to Creighton University to be closer to a boyfriend. Thomas received a Bachelor of Arts in political science and business communication from Creighton University (1979) and a Juris Doctor from Creighton University School of Law (1983), after a hiatus working as a legislative aide for Congressman   Hal Daub.

Career

1981-1991

When Congressman Hal Daub took office in 1981, Ginni Thomas moved to Washington, D.C., and worked in his office for 18 months. After completing her degree at Creighton University School of Law in 1983, Thomas worked one more year for Hal Daub in Washington as his legislative director. From 1985 to 1989, Thomas was employed as an attorney and labor relations specialist at the United States Chamber of Commerce, attending congressional hearings where Thomas represented the interests of the business community. Thomas' advocacy included arguing against the passage of the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993. In 1989, Thomas became manager of employee relations at a chamber of commerce.

1991-2009

In 1991, Ginni Thomas returned to government service in the Legislative Affairs Office of the United States Department of Labor, where Thomas argued against comparable-worth legislation that would have mandated equal pay for women and men in jobs deemed to be comparable.

That year, Ginni Thomas' husband, Clarence Thomas, was nominated by President   George H.W. Bush to fill the open seat on the Supreme Court of the United States left by the retirement of Associate Justice of the Supreme Court   Thurgood Marshall. Thomas attended the contentious U.S. Senate confirmation hearings, and stood by her husband as Clarence Thomas was accused by Anita Hill of sexual harassment.

During Clarence Thomas' Supreme Court confirmation hearings, several Democratic Senators questioned whether Ginni Thomas' job with the United States Department of Labor could create a conflict of interest for her husband - Clarence Thomas - if he were to be seated on the U.S. Supreme Court. After Clarence Thomas was confirmed by a vote of 52 to 48, Ginni Thomas described the televised scrutiny and confirmation process as a "trial by fire".

Ginni Thomas' next job was as a policy analyst for U.S. Congressman   Dick Armey, who was then the Chairman of the Republican House Conference.

By 2000, Ginni Thomas was working for The Heritage Foundation, where she collected résumés for potential presidential appointments in the George W. Bush administration when the Supreme Court was deciding Bush v. Gore. Thomas continued to work at The Heritage Foundation during the administration of George W. Bush, serving as the White House Liaison for the think tank.

2009-Present

In late 2009, Ginni Thomas started a nonprofit lobbying group - Liberty Central - to organize conservative activists, issue legislative scorecards for Members of Congress, and be involved in elections. Liberty Central was aimed at opposing what Thomas called the leftist "tyranny" of President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats, and "protecting the core founding principles" of the United States. Thomas' lobbying activities were raised as a potential source of conflict of interest for her husband, U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Clarence Thomas. Ginni Thomas was interviewed by Sean Hannity on his Fox News show Hannity in 2010-06. Asked about potential conflicts between her Liberty Central activities and her husband's position, Ginni Thomas replied, "there's a lot of judicial wives and husbands out there causing trouble. I'm just one of many." Liberty Central ceased operations in 2012.

In 2011-02, Politico reported that Ginni Thomas was the head of a new company, Liberty Consulting, which filed incorporation papers in mid-November 2010. Liberty Consulting's website stated that clients could use Thomas' "experience and connections" to help "with "governmental affairs efforts" and political donation strategies. The Washington Post described Liberty Consulting as "a one-woman shop" where Ginni Thomas advised political donors how to direct funds in the post-Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (Citizens United v. FEC) landscape. Also in 2011, Ginni Thomas became a special correspondent for the disinformation source the Daily Caller.

Ginni Thomas endorsed Ted Cruz in the 2016 Republican primaries. Thomas supported Donald Trump after he won the Republican nomination.

Ginni Thomas has served on the advisory council of Turning Point USA. Turning Point USA (TPUSA  |  Turning Point) is an American nonprofit organization that advocates for conservative values on high school, college, and university campuses. Turning Point USA was founded in 2012 by Charlie Kirk and Bill Montgomery. TPUSA's sister organizations include Turning Point Endowment, Turning Point Action,   Students for Trump, and Turning Point Faith. Turning Point USA also works closely with PragerU. According to The Chronicle of Higher Education, TPUSA "is now the dominant force in campus conservatism."

Ginni Thomas has drawn attention for making controversial social media posts; The Washington Post wrote that Ginni Thomas had shared "nakedly partisan, erroneous propaganda."

Ginni Thomas is a member of the informal conservative coalition Groundswell group. According to a 2020-02 report by Jonathan Swan in Axios, Ginni Thomas actively urged President Trump to change the personnel in his administration. Swan reported that Thomas had given Trump a memo with names of individuals recommended by the Groundswell network.

On 2020-05-28, President Trump appointed Ginni Thomas as a member of the trust fund board of the Library of Congress.

In 2021-01, Ginni Thomas took to Facebook to promote the pro-Trump rally that ultimately preceded the storming of the U.S. Capitol building  [2021 United States Capitol attack]. The Washington Post reported that after the storming of the U.S. Capitol, Ginni Thomas - on a private email listserv of Clarence Thomas' former law clerks - expressed her apologies for contributing to a rift among the group. The internal rift reportedly concerned "pro-Trump postings and former Clarence Thomas clerk John Eastman, who spoke at the pro-Trump rally and represented Trump in some of his failed lawsuits filed to overturn the election results."

In the wake of the storming of the U.S. Capitol, baseless claims that Ginni Thomas had paid to shuttle demonstrators to Washington D.C. proliferated online. A year after the 2021-01-06 attack, fact checkers again debunked claims that Ginni Thomas was involved in the events of 2021-01-06.

Personal Life

Virginia Thomas and Clarence Thomas married in 1987. They live in Virginia.

Ginni Thomas converted from Protestantism to the Roman Catholic faith in 2002. Thomas was inspired by her husband Clarence Thomas' devotion of praying the Litany of Humility and participating in the Catholic Mass. Ginni Thomas credits U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonin Scalia, and his wife Maureen McCarthy, for their love, praying Clarence Thomas back into the Roman Catholic Church.

On 2010-10-09, Ginni Thomas left a voicemail message for Anita Hill, whose accusations of sexual harassment complicated her husband's Senate confirmation hearings 19 years earlier. In the voicemail, Ginni Thomas said that Anita Hill should apologize to Thomas' husband, Clarence Thomas. Hill responded that there was nothing to apologize for and said that her 1991 testimony about her interactions with Clarence Thomas was truthful.

In 2011, Clarence Thomas amended twenty years worth of his financial disclosures to include Virginia Thomas' places of employment.

Lifespring

In the 1980s, while a Congressional aide, Ginni Thomas took training with the self-awareness program Lifespring. In 1987, Thomas related to The Washington Post that, during her training several years earlier, Thomas had been "confused and troubled" by lessons such as one where trainees were told to disrobe to bikinis and bathing suits then "made fun of fat people's bodies and ridiculed one another with sexual questions". After realizing that membership in her Lifespring group was separating her from her family, friends, and co-workers, Ginni Thomas began what proved to be a difficult and months-long process of breaking away. At one point, Thomas hid in another part of the U.S. to avoid a constant barrage of high-pressure phone calls from Lifespring members, who felt they had a duty to keep her in the organization.

Ginni Thomas ultimately came to believe that Lifespring was a cult. After leaving Lifespring in 1985, Thomas sought counseling and joined the Cult Awareness Network. Ginni Thomas became a critic of controversial religious groups, speaking on panels and organizing anti-cult workshops for congressional staffers in 1986 and 1988. In a 1991 interview, Thomas remarked, "I was once in a group that used mind control techniques"; and Thomas called its members "pretty scary people."

Additional Reading

Virginia "Ginni" Thomas, the conservative and wife of Supreme Court of the United States Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, pressed lawmakers to overturn President Joe Biden's 2020 victory not only in Arizona (as previously reported), but also in a second battleground state - Wisconsin - according to emails obtained under state public-records law.

The Washington Post   November and December 2020. Ginni Thomas urged those lawmakers to set aside Joe Biden's popular-vote victory and "choose" their own presidential electors - despite the fact that the responsibility for choosing electors rests with voters under Arizona state law.

The new emails show that Ginni Thomas also messaged two Republican Party lawmakers in Wisconsin: state Senator Kathy Bernier - then chair of the Senate elections committee - and state Representative Gary Tauchen. Bernier and Tauchen received the email at 10:47 a.m. on 2020-11-09, virtually the same time the Arizona lawmakers received a verbatim copy of the message from Ginni Thomas. The Bernier email was obtained by The Washington Post, and the Tauchen email was obtained by the watchdog group Documented and provided to The Washington Post.

"Please stand strong in the face of media and political pressure," read the emails sent 2022-11-09 - just days after major media organizations called the Presidency of Joe Biden. "Please reflect on the awesome authority granted to you by our Constitution. And then please take action to ensure that a clean slate of Electors is chosen for our state."

[ ... snip ... ]

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• [CommonDreams.org, 2022-09-01] 'Corrupt as Hell': Demands for Clarence Thomas to Resign Follow New Details of Wife's Election Scheming.  "If Clarence Thomas had any shame, he would resign immediately," said one advocacy group. "But he doesn't." ... "Reminder that Clarence Thomas heard election cases while his wife conspired to overthrow democracy."

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