Ginni Thomas reportedly pressed Trump's chief of staff on overturning the election

Ginni Thomas reportedly pressed Trump¹'s chief of staff on overturning the election

　　Transcript²

　　The wife of Supreme³ Court Justice Clarence Thomas reportedly urged President Donald Trump's top aide to make efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.

　　CBS and The Washington Post report that toward the end of the Trump administration, Ginni Thomas exchanged text messages over several weeks with Mark Meadows, who was the White House chief of staff at the time.

　　The text messages were among those turned over by Meadows to the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. He later stopped cooperating with the panel.

　　There are suggestions in these messages that Ginni Thomas may have had contacts with others in the White House and on Trump's legal team.

　　Robert Costa, CBS News' chief election and campaign correspondent, told NPR that Ginni Thomas reached out to Meadows days after the election, when "President Trump was already eyeing a potential hearing at the U.S. Supreme Court."

　　"It was the beginning of a 29 text-message exchange between November 2020 and January 2021," Costa said. NPR has not independently confirmed the reporting.

　　It is not the first time Ginni Thomas has been the center of controversy⁴.

　　This month, Ginni Thomas tried to rebut⁶ claims that there's a conflict of interest between her conservative activism and her husband's work on the highest court. In an interview with the conservative website The Washington Free Beacon⁷, she said that while she did attend the Jan. 6 rally that preceded the violence at the Capitol, she left before Trump spoke⁸ at noon and before the rioters breached⁹ the Capitol complex.

　　It is unclear whether Thomas was aware of his wife's correspondence with Meadows, but in February 2021, a month after Joe Biden was sworn in as president, the Supreme Court refused to hear election challenges brought by Trump and his allies, and Thomas wrote a blistering¹⁰ dissent¹¹ saying that the court should have heard the case to ensure the rules of the road were clear next time.

　　The text messages raise ethical¹² questions about whether Clarence Thomas should have recused himself last year in cases pertaining¹³ to the election and whether he should in the future. New York University law professor Stephen Gillers, author of leading texts on legal ethics¹⁴, tells NPR that the newly disclosed texts have changed his mind on these questions.

　　"By reaching out to Mark Meadows and possibly others, [she] became part of the Stop the Steal team," he said. "That team's strategy included eventual¹⁵ appeals, if necessary to the Supreme Court."

　　Even if Clarence Thomas didn't know what his wife was doing, Gillers maintains, these texts indicate he would have had to willfully ignore her conduct, and in any event, he certainly knows now.

　　Read below for more highlights of NPR's interview with Costa and what the text messages reveal.

　　Interview highlights

　　On how the texts show relationships across different branches of the U.S. government

　　It's extraordinary. This is a pipeline¹⁶ between the spouse¹⁷ of a Supreme Court justice and the chief of staff at the White House, one of the top executives and officials in the executive branch, and they're communicating at times about the legislative¹⁸ branch — Congress. It's this overlapping¹⁹ of relationships across the United States government, and they all have seemingly one mission — to overturn the 2020 election to stop Joe Biden from taking the White House — and at times, they are communicating about legal strategy.

　　On whether Ginni Thomas referenced her husband in the texts

　　It's important to note that the Supreme Court and Justice Thomas ... are never referenced in a way that is clear. And we've reached out to Justice Thomas and Ginni Thomas repeatedly for some kind of clarification. They have so far not responded.

　　But what we do see is a reference in the text messages from Ginni Thomas to a best friend. She does not say whom she is referring to in that. Public documents and speeches show that Ginni Thomas and Clarence — the Supreme Court justice — have both referred to each other as "best friend" in the past. But again, we do not know exactly who she is referring to. She also mentions his 1991 confirmation²⁰ hearings at one point.

　　On how Meadows reacted to Ginni Thomas' messages

　　There are times he seems to seriously embrace her message. At one point, he invokes²¹ his faith, talks about God, the "King of Kings" and how this is not just an election fight. He frames it as a fight of good vs. evil.

　　On the possible conflicts of interest in a Supreme Court justice's wife communicating with the White House chief of staff to overturn a presidential election

　　We do not know yet was there any awareness²² about Ginni Thomas' message[s] to Mark Meadows. Were they part of that trove⁵ at the time? Was there any awareness that her messages were part of the documents going over to the committee, a decision he was ruling on? So in brief, was he ruling on something that his wife was involved in?

　　And the bigger picture is he ruled on several Trump-related cases. He was part of decisions about throwing out some of the election cases, but he said, in his own writing, [that] those cases should be heard.

　　On possible consequences for Clarence Thomas

　　Supreme Court justices ... don't have much oversight²³ other than Congress. They can be impeached²⁴, but there's no sort of oversight board or rulebook for Supreme Court justices, so a lot of this is going to come down to what Congress decides to do, if anything.

1 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

4 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

5 trove   

n.被发现的东西，收藏的东西

参考例句：

• He assembled a rich trove of Chinese porcelain.他收集了一批中国瓷器。
• The gallery is a treasure trove of medieval art.这个画廊是中世纪艺术的宝库。

6 rebut   

v.辩驳，驳回

参考例句：

• He attempted to rebut the assertions made by the prosecution witness.他试图反驳控方证人所作的断言。
• This open letter is to rebut the argument of abstractionism.这封公开信是反驳抽象派论点的。

7 beacon   

n.烽火，（警告用的）闪火灯，灯塔

参考例句：

• The blink of beacon could be seen for miles.灯塔的光亮在数英里之外都能看见。
• The only light over the deep black sea was the blink shone from the beacon.黑黢黢的海面上唯一的光明就只有灯塔上闪现的亮光了。

8 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

9 breached   

攻破( breach的现在分词 )； 破坏，违反

参考例句：

• These commitments have already been breached. 这些承诺已遭背弃。
• Our tanks have breached the enemy defences. 我方坦克车突破了敌人的防线。

10 blistering   

adj.酷热的；猛烈的；使起疱的；可恶的v.起水疱；起气泡；使受暴晒n.[涂料] 起泡

参考例句：

• The runners set off at a blistering pace. 赛跑运动员如脱缰野马般起跑了。
• This failure is known as preferential wetting and is responsible for blistering. 这种故障称为优先吸湿，是产生气泡的原因。 来自辞典例句

11 dissent   

n./v.不同意，持异议

参考例句：

• It is too late now to make any dissent.现在提出异议太晚了。
• He felt her shoulders gave a wriggle of dissent.他感到她的肩膀因为不同意而动了一下。

12 ethical   

adj.伦理的，道德的，合乎道德的

参考例句：

• It is necessary to get the youth to have a high ethical concept.必须使青年具有高度的道德观念。
• It was a debate which aroused fervent ethical arguments.那是一场引发强烈的伦理道德争论的辩论。

13 pertaining   

与…有关系的，附属…的，为…固有的(to)

参考例句：

• Living conditions are vastly different from those pertaining in their country of origin. 生活条件与他们祖国大不相同。
• The inspector was interested in everything pertaining to the school. 视察员对有关学校的一切都感兴趣。

14 ethics   

n.伦理学；伦理观，道德标准

参考例句：

• The ethics of his profession don't permit him to do that.他的职业道德不允许他那样做。
• Personal ethics and professional ethics sometimes conflict.个人道德和职业道德有时会相互抵触。

15 eventual   

adj.最后的，结局的，最终的

参考例句：

• Several schools face eventual closure.几所学校面临最终关闭。
• Both parties expressed optimism about an eventual solution.双方对问题的最终解决都表示乐观。

16 pipeline   

n.管道，管线

参考例句：

• The pipeline supplies Jordan with 15 per cent of its crude oil.该管道供给约旦15%的原油。
• A single pipeline serves all the houses with water.一条单管路给所有的房子供水。

17 spouse   

n.配偶(指夫或妻)

参考例句：

• Her spouse will come to see her on Sunday.她的丈夫星期天要来看她。
• What is the best way to keep your spouse happy in the marriage?在婚姻中保持配偶幸福的最好方法是什么？

18 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。

19 overlapping   

adj./n.交迭（的）

参考例句：

• There is no overlapping question between the two courses. 这两门课程之间不存在重叠的问题。
• A trimetrogon strip is composed of three rows of overlapping. 三镜头摄影航线为三排重迭的象片所组成。

20 confirmation   

n.证实，确认，批准

参考例句：

• We are waiting for confirmation of the news.我们正在等待证实那个消息。
• We need confirmation in writing before we can send your order out.给你们发送订购的货物之前，我们需要书面确认。

21 invokes   

v.援引( invoke的第三人称单数 )；行使（权利等）；祈求救助；恳求

参考例句：

• The Roundtable statement invokes the principles of the free market system. 企业界圆桌会议的声明援用了自由市场制度的原则。 来自辞典例句
• When no more storage is available, the system invokes a garbage collector. 当没有可用的存贮时，系统就调用无用单元收集程序。 来自辞典例句

22 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。

23 oversight   

n.勘漏，失察，疏忽

参考例句：

• I consider this a gross oversight on your part.我把这件事看作是你的一大疏忽。
• Your essay was not marked through an oversight on my part.由于我的疏忽你的文章没有打分。

24 impeached   

v.控告（某人）犯罪( impeach的过去式和过去分词 )；弹劾；对（某事物）怀疑；提出异议

参考例句：

• Elected officials can be impeached. 经过选举产生的官员可以被弹劾。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The judge was impeached for taking a bribe. 这个法官被检举接受贿赂。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》