Virginia ‘Ginni’ Thomas, wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, has privately been sending her support to the First Liberty Institute, an anti-court reform group that opposes a stricter ethics code for the court, according to a new report from ProPublica.
First Liberty Institute CEO Kelly Shackelford, who is quoted on the Heritage Foundation’s website as saying “it is truly a privilege to serve on” Project 2025, also gave his thanks to Thomas for her support in a leaked July donor call.
“I cannot adequately express enough appreciation for you guys pulling into reacting to the Biden effort on the Supreme Court,” Thomas wrote in an email to the group, referring to President Joe Biden’s proposed plan to impose term limits of SCOTUS justices and require them to report gifts.
Ginni Thomas, wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.
Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters
The Daily Beast reached out to the Biden administration for comment but has yet to receive a response.
“Many were so depressed at the lack of response by Rs and conservatives,” Thomas added. “YOU GUYS HAVE FILLED THE SAILS OF MANY JUDGES. CAN I JUST TELL YOU, THANK YOU SO, SO, SO MUCH.”
Previous reports have shown that Justice Thomas and Justice Samuel Alito have had hotels, flights, schooling for their children, and meals paid for by billionaire donors, including Harlan Crow.
Senate Judiciary Committee member Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) displays a copy of a painting featuring Supreme Court Associate Justice Clarence Thomas alongside other conservative leaders during a hearing on Supreme Court ethics reform.
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Shackelford said Thomas’ support reminded him of the First Liberty Institute’s backing of 35 Navy SEALs who refused to be vaccinated and thus have not been redeployed or assigned by the military. The case was brought before the Supreme Court in 2022 and Thomas dissented in favor of the SEALs.
“These judges are that same thing,” Shackelford added. “They can’t go out into the political sphere and fight, and they know they are trying to protect the existence of the Court.”
Skackelford added that Thomas had met with the group in a private meeting previously in the day.
The Daily Beast reached out to the First Liberty Institute for comment but has yet to receive a response.
Shackelford continued that “there is a dangerous attempt to, really, destroy the (Supreme) Court,” by “the progressive, extreme left,” who “get upset by a few cases, but that’s all they need to say ‘we’re ready to totally’ what they would call ‘reform’ or ‘restructure’ the court.”
Shackelford also called Justice Elena Kagan “treasonous” for advocating for court reform.
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas arrives with his wife, Ginni Thomas.
Erin Scott/Reuters
“The Chief Justice rules the court they’re trying to keep the other branches hands off of them and then you’ve got Kagan from the inside really being somewhat disloyal and somewhat treasonous,” Shackelford said.
He ended the call with a call to action, telling donors, “we need resources to be able to do a bunch of the things that will make a difference between now and the next you know six months.”
“And that turned out to be key last time,” Shackelford added, referring to a $3 million campaign led by First Liberty to block filibuster reform in the senate, according to ProPublica. “So it’s not like this is a theory we’ve shown that it works and then it makes a difference.”
Shackelford, reportedly, told the call that their targeted ad campaign aimed at Sens. Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ), “stopped this (filibuster reform) from happening.”
Manchin was previously targeted by a multimillion dollar ad campaign from the Judicial Crisis Network to vote for the appointment of Brett Kavanaugh to the court, which he did.
The Daily Beast also reached out to Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Dick Durbin (D-IL), who have been leading the effort on the Senate Judiciary Committee for court reform, for comment.
