The revelation of Thomas's messages with Meadows comes three weeks after lawyers for the committee
said in a court filing that the panel has "a good-faith basis for concluding that the President and members of his Campaign engaged in a criminal conspiracy to defraud the United States" and obstruct the counting of electoral votes by Congress. . . .
In her text messages to Meadows, Ginni Thomas spread false theories, commented on cable news segments and advocated with urgency and fervor that the president and his team take action to reverse the outcome of the election. She urged that they take a hard line with Trump staffers and congressional Republicans who had resisted arguments that the election was stolen.
In the messages, Thomas and Meadows each assert a belief that the election was stolen and seem to share a solidarity of purpose and faith, though they occasionally express differences on tactics. . . .
The first of the 29 messages between Ginni Thomas and Meadows was sent on Nov. 5, two days after the election. She sent him a link to a YouTube video labeled "TRUMP STING w CIA Director Steve Pieczenik, The Biggest Election Story in History, QFS-BLOCKCHAIN."
Pieczenik, a former State Department official, is a far-right commentator who has falsely claimed that the 2012 massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., was a
"false-flag" operation to push a gun-control agenda.
The video Thomas shared with Meadows is no longer available on YouTube. But Thomas wrote to Meadows, "I hope this is true; never heard anything like this before, or even a hint of it. Possible???"
"Watermarked ballots in over 12 states have been part of a huge Trump & military white hat sting operation in 12 key battleground states," she wrote.
During that period, supporters of the QAnon extremist ideology embraced a false theory that Trump had watermarked mail-in ballots so he could track potential fraud. "Watch the water" was a refrain in QAnon circles at the time.
In the Nov. 5 message to Meadows, Thomas went on to quote a passage that had circulated on right-wing websites: "Biden crime family & ballot fraud co-conspirators (elected officials, bureaucrats, social media censorship mongers, fake stream media reporters, etc) are being arrested & detained for ballot fraud right now & over coming days, & will be living in barges off GITMO to face military tribunals for sedition." . . .
The next day, Nov. 6, Thomas sent a follow-up to Meadows: "Do not concede. It takes time for the army who is gathering for his back." . . .
On Nov. 10, Thomas drew a reply from Meadows. She wrote, "Mark, I wanted to text you and tell you for days you are in my prayers!!" She continued by urging him to "Help This Great President stand firm" and invoking "the greatest Heist of our History."
Thomas added in the message that Meadows should "Listen to Rush. Mark Steyn, Bongino, Cleta" – appearing to refer to conservative commentators Rush Limbaugh, Mark Steyn and Dan Bongino, as well as lawyer Cleta Mitchell, who was involved in Trump's push to claim victory in Georgia despite Biden's certified win there.
One minute later, Meadows responded: "I will stand firm. We will fight until there is no fight left. Our country is too precious to give up on. Thanks for all you do."
Nine minutes after that, Thomas replied, "Tearing up and praying for you guys!!!!! So proud to know you!!" . . .
Thomas then turned to her frustrations with congressional Republicans and said she wished more of them were rallying behind Trump and being more active with his base voters, who were furious about the election.
She wrote, "House and Senate guys are pathetic too... only 4 GOP House members seen out in street rallies with grassroots... Gohmert, Jordan, Gosar, and Roy." She appeared to be referring to Republican House members Louie Gohmert of Texas, Jim Jordan of Ohio, Paul A. Gosar of Arizona and Chip Roy of Texas. . . .
"Where the heck are all those who benefited by Presidents coattails?!!!" she wrote in her text message to him late on Nov. 10. She then told him to watch a YouTube video about the power of never conceding. . . .
On Nov. 13, she texted Meadows about her outreach to "Jared," potentially a reference to Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law and senior White House adviser. She wrote, "Just forwarded to yr gmail an email I sent Jared this am. Sidney Powell & improved coordination now will help the cavalry come and Fraud exposed and America saved." . . .
Powell was becoming ubiquitous on television – and winning the president's favor, according to several Trump advisers – as she claimed without evidence that electronic voting systems had stolen the election from Trump by switching millions of ballots in Biden's favor. She claimed, again without evidence, that hundreds of thousands of ballots were appearing out of nowhere and that a global communist conspiracy was afoot involving Venezuela, Cuba, and probably China. . . .
Her views were considered so extreme and unsupported by evidence that David Bossie, a longtime Trump supporter, told others that she was peddling "concocted B.S." After Fox News host Tucker Carlson contacted Powell about her claim that electronic voting machines had switched ballots to Biden,
he told his viewers that he found her answers evasive and that she had shown no evidence to support her assertion. He stopped having her on his program.
Ginni Thomas stood by her. "Don't let her and your assets be marginalized instead...help her be the lead and the face," she wrote to Meadows on Nov. 13. . . .
"This war is psychological. PSYOP," the [Nov. 14] text from Thomas states. . . .
On Nov. 19, which would be a crucial day for Powell as she spoke at a news conference at the Republican National Committee, Thomas continued to bolster Powell's standing in a text to Meadows.
"Mark (don't want to wake you)… " Thomas wrote. "Sounds like Sidney and her team are getting inundated with evidence of fraud. Make a plan. Release the Kraken and save us from the left taking America down." . . .
In that same exchange, Thomas also at one point offered Meadows advice on managing the West Wing staff.
"Suggestion: You need to buck up your team on the inside, Mark," Thomas wrote. "The lower level insiders are scared, fearful or sending out signals of hopelessness vs an awareness of the existential threat to America right now. You can buck them up, strengthen their spirits." . . .
Thomas then wrote, "You guys fold, the evil just moves fast down underneath you all. Lots of intensifying threats coming to ACB and others." Justice Amy Coney Barrett, sometimes called "ACB" by her supporters, had joined the Supreme Court in October, shortly before the election. It is unclear to what threats Thomas was referring. . . .
But Thomas's high aspirations for Powell quickly collapsed that afternoon. Instead of capturing the nation's attention at the RNC news conference, where she spoke alongside Giuliani and other Trump advisers, Powell was criticized for spreading a false theory about electronic voting machines as a tool for communists. Some Trump aides were horrified by her and Giuliani's performances and felt they had embarrassed the president by becoming a parody of his post-election fight.
As Giuliani spoke, a dark brown liquid mixed with beads of sweat rolled down his cheek. "Did you watch 'My Cousin Vinny?' " he asked reporters, tying a legal reference to the 1992 comedy.
Thomas wrote to Meadows, "Tears are flowing at what Rudy is doing right now!!!!" . . .
By Nov. 22, Trump gave his blessing for Giuliani and another Trump lawyer, Jenna Ellis, to issue a statement claiming that Powell "is not a member of the Trump Legal Team."
Thomas reached out to Meadows that day with concern. "Trying to understand the Sidney Powell distancing," she wrote.
"She doesn't have anything or at least she won't share it if she does," Meadows texted back.
"Wow!" Thomas replied. . . .
On Nov. 24, Thomas engaged Meadows again by sharing a video from Parler, a conservative social media website, that appeared to refer to conservative commentator Glenn Beck.
"If you all cave to the elites, you have to know that many of your 73 million feel like what Glenn is expressing," Thomas wrote. . . .
Meadows replied three minutes later: "I don't know what you mean by caving to the elites."
Thomas responded: "I can't see Americans swallowing the obvious fraud. Just going with one more thing with no frickin consequences... the whole coup and now this... we just cave to people wanting Biden to be anointed? Many of us can't continue the GOP charade." . . .
The text exchanges with Thomas that Meadows provided to the House select committee pause after Nov. 24, 2020, with an unexplained gap in correspondence. The committee received one additional message sent by Thomas to Meadows, on Jan. 10, four days after the "Stop the Steal" rally Thomas said she attended and the deadly attack on the Capitol. . . .
"We are living through what feels like the end of America," Thomas wrote to Meadows. "Most of us are disgusted with the VP and are in listening mode to see where to fight with our teams. Those who attacked the Capitol are not representative of our great teams of patriots for DJT!!"
"Amazing times," she added. "The end of Liberty."
