Nearly 20 years after sexual harassment allegations that almost stopped Clarence Thomas’s Supreme Court nomination, the justice’s wife, Virginia Thomas, telephoned Anita Hill, his principal accuser, to ask for an apology.
“I certainly thought the call was inappropriate,” Ms. Hill explained through a spokesman. “I have no intention of apologizing because I testified truthfully about my experience and I stand by that testimony.”
Ms. Hill said she originally assumed the call, which a spokesman said came 7:30 a.m. on a Saturday, was a prank. She notified campus security, Brandeis spokesman Charles Radin, which in a routine procedure alerted the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
“Good morning, Anita Hill, it’s Ginni Thomas,” the message began. “I just wanted to reach across the air-waves and the years and ask you to consider something. I would love you to consider an apology sometime and some full explanation of why you did what you did with my husband. So give it some thought and certainly pray about this and come to understand why you did what you did. Okay have a good day.”
Justice Thomas, nominated by President George H.W. Bush, denied Ms. Hill’s allegations and called the hearing “a high-tech lynching.” He accused committee staffers of digging up “dirt” to block a black conservative from succeeding the liberal Justice Thurgood Marshall, the court’s first African-American member.
The transcript was first published by ABC News.
