Virginia “Ginni” Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, once led a conservative group that received just under $600,000 from a list of unnamed donors.
In a practice that is completely legal, the funds were funneled through a conservative think tank, Capital Research Center (CRC), which counts among its trustees Edwin Meese III, a former attorney general under President Ronald Reagan. Scott Walker, a former aide to President George W. Bush, is its president.
The clandestine nature of the donations, however, shed new light on the culture war against the left that Thomas has waged on behalf of other conservatives, a revelation that many observers viewed as troublesome given her proximity to the highest court in the land by way of her husband.
According to The Washington Post, the tax records of CRC show that as its fiscal sponsor the think tank collected $596,000 in donations in 2019 on behalf of the Crowdsourcers for Culture and Liberty. A significant portion of the donations, $400,000, was then sent through another nonprofit, Donors Trust. It is not clear why this was done. It is also not known whether Thomas personally received any of these funds.
Fiscal sponsorship “offers a way for a cause to attract donors even when it is not yet recognized as tax-exempt under Internal Revenue Code Section 501(c)(3),” according to the Council of Nonprofits.
In simple terms, these arrangements help fledgling nonprofits — particularly under-resourced start-ups — with financial management, fiduciary oversight and other administrative tasks that help them to grow. While fiscal sponsorships are largely enacted in good faith, these arrangements can also provide cover for those with impure motives — for instance, to anonymously donate to causes that are aligned with individuals who have influence with people in high places. They can also hide the source of funds earmarked for unlawful activities.
The Post reported that Crowdsourcers for Culture and Liberty was established to uphold longstanding conservative values and to galvanize others in the space in order to push back against liberal politicians and liberal ideology as a whole. Beyond that, little else is known about it.
Thomas’ lawyer Mark Paoletta issued a statement to The Post that read in part that Thomas is “proud of the work she did with Crowdsourcers, which brought together conservative leaders to discuss amplifying conservative values with respect to the battle over culture.”
As The Post reported, there could exist deeper implications for Thomas, considering the identity of her husband. Her link to Crowdsourcers is far from the first time her associations have come under scrutiny, though.
Dating to the appointment of her husband to the Supreme Court in 1991, Thomas has been questioned about issues around propriety. During Justice Thomas’ confirmation hearings, Democratic senators grilled Ginni Thomas about her employment with the Labor Department and whether it presented a conflict of interest. At the time, she argued against equal-pay legislation, which stoked fears about the issue coming before the Court.
Thomas established the nonprofit Liberty Central in 2009, which also had anonymous donors. With the rise of the Tea Party movement during a contentious period during the presidency of Barack Obama, Liberty Central aimed its efforts at striking down policies from Democrats and the left. In 2010, she was questioned about her involvement in Liberty Central, prompting her to step away from the nonprofit that year and began the for-profit firm Liberty Consulting, which has fewer reporting requirements.
Well into the presidency of Donald Trump, Thomas became a member of the conservative Groundswell group, which she helped establish with the assistance of former Trump adviser, Steven Bannon. As The New York Times noted, Thomas had Trump’s trust to the point that she advised him on individuals he should eliminate from his inner circle.
In 2020, The Post uncovered details about Thomas privately asking former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows to examine pathways to overturn the presidential election. Further, Thomas sent emails to swing-state lawmakers to sway the election results in favor of Donald Trump by urging them to award the defeated presidential candidate electoral votes over President-elect Joe Biden. Thomas’ glaring actions caused some to question whether Justice Thomas should recuse himself from any Court cases involving the election.
Paoletta said of his client’s more recent efforts, “she believes Crowdsourcers identified the left’s dominance in most cultural lanes, while conservatives were mostly funding political organizations. In her work, she has complied with all reporting and disclosure requirements.”
In conclusion, Paoletta stated that there is no existing conflict of interest as it relates to Justice Thomas.
TheGrio freelance reporter D.L. Chandler contributed to this article.
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