The Ginni Thomas cat and mouse game is now afoot
Last night the January 6th Committee sent Ginni Thomas a letter formally requesting that she testify on certain dates, and that she preserve and provide all relevant documents and evidence. Thomas has responded by publicly insisting that she indeed plans to testify.
Even as this process plays out, some observers are now asking why the committee doesn’t just subpoena Thomas. The answer is actually pretty straightforward. When a witness and presumptive criminal target like Thomas signals a desire to testify against herself, because she’s the kind of delusional nut job who thinks she can use conspiracy theories to justify her crimes, the last thing you want to do is spook her.
If the committee were to hit Thomas with a subpoena right now, after she just said she wants to testify, she could take it as a sign that she really is in legal trouble, and decide not to testify. She could then go into court and argue that her status as a Supreme Court spouse means she’s immune from testifying. And while such a defense would 100% be thrown out of court in the end, it could take a year or more.
Put another way: whatever the odds are of Ginni Thomas testifying, preemptively subpoenaing her would reduce those odds, not increase them. It would be frankly dumb for the committee to go that route.
These things are about winning and getting closer to justice, not about demanding that the committee stomp its feet and make the most “aggressive” move. There’s a way these things work. Certain moves give you better odds of the outcome you’re looking for, and other moves give you worse odds. Often, the most “aggressive” move is also the dumbest move, with the worst odds of accomplishing your goal. The committee is playing this one smartly, as it’s tended to do from the start.
