Fox News has so far given almost no airtime to a major political scandal involving Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. Recently revealed text messages between his wife Ginni Thomas, a right-wing political activist, and then-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, show that Ginni Thomas pushed far-right conspiracy theories and advised the Trump administration on its efforts to overturn the 2020 election results. These messages were sent during the period when Justice Thomas was in a position to rule on Trump’s efforts to overturn the election, and they cast further light on Thomas’ decisions involving the investigation of the January 6 insurrection.
The Washington Post and CBS News reported Thursday evening on the texts, which are part of the materials Meadows had previously shared with the House select committee investigating the January 6, 2021, riot. The text messages, which may not include all relevant communications between Thomas and the White House, show her spreading false claims of massive ballot fraud, as well as conspiracy theories that then-President-elect Joe Biden would face a military tribunal for sedition. Thomas also appeared to indicate that she had been in touch with Trump son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner.
Earlier this month, Ginni Thomas had given an interview to the right-wing Washington Free Beacon, in which she admitted that she had been present at Trump’s rally that preceded the siege of the U.S. Capitol. Even before these texts became public, Thomas’ right-wing political activism and her public opposition to the January 6 committee had sparked major questions over Clarence Thomas’ refusal to recuse himself from various cases.
Thomas actually joined in the Supreme Court’s unanimous decisions in late 2020 against Trump’s efforts to throw out the election results. But in another case this past January, he was the lone member of the court to support Trump’s attempt to keep documents secret from the January 6 committee — which would have hindered an investigation that we now know has already included materials implicating his wife. Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Robert Costa, who reported on the story, also said on Friday’s edition of CBS Morning News that Ginni Thomas’ text messages constitute an “unprecedented entanglement.”
In addition to the CBS Morning News segment, the story has also received considerable coverage from news outlets including CNN, MSNBC, and The New York Times. Meanwhile, the only mention on Fox News since the story broke yesterday has been a quick headline news update on Thursday evening’s edition of Special Report with Bret Baier. Fox’s chyron also seriously undersold the story, claiming, “Justice’s wife urged Meadows to look into results.”