Break out the smelling salts, because I think Orrin Hatch has got a bad case of the vapors. Better let go of those pearls, Orrin, or you're going to choke yourself. This guy is a real piece of work. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas' wife Ginni makes a fool out of herself and Hatch goes on the air and attacks Anita Hill.
KING: Senator Hatch, I want to go to you first. I know you're a Thomas supporter. Many of the people are asking why. They understand this is tough personally for Ginni Thomas and for Clarence Thomas, but why now bring this up? And I want to read you the voice mail that Ginni Thomas left on Anita Hill's voicemail at Brandeis University at 7:31 a.m. on October 9th, a couple of weeks ago. "Good morning, Anita Hill, it's Ginni Thomas. I just wanted to reach across the airwaves and the years and ask you to consider something. I would love you to consider an apology some time 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. OK, have a good day."
Why now Senator Hatch? What do you think the motive of that is?
HATCH: Well I think Ginni Thomas and Clarence Thomas they're two of the most honest people I've ever met. They're both really, really good people. Very Christian people. They're people who do what they do and say what they say and do it in honor. And I think probably this has grated on Ginni all these years and I think she was hoping Anita Hill would finally admit what she said was wrong. I can tell you a lot about that and why I'm so strongly in favor of Clarence Thomas.
KING: You believe, Senator, to this day, you believe Anita Hill was lying, exaggerating? What do you believe?
HATCH: The toughest witness to cross examine is somebody who is absolutely wrong but believes they're right. I think Anita Hill made an excellent witness but I also know Clarence Thomas and I know Ginni Thomas. By the way, when I heard the -- this whole thing was outed by a staffer of one of the Democrat senators. It was a violation of law to do this. Because Anita Hill did not want to testify and that's why she was not called.
KING: I don't want to go back to that. I do want to focus on the question at hand.
HATCH: Let me get to it because this is all important. What happened was, is that I called Clarence and I said, Clarence, any truth to this? Now, I know Clarence very well. I know if there had been he would have said, yeah, I did that, but he didn't, he said no, I can't understand why she would do this. I was her mentor. I helped her. He said, I did promote somebody over her. He said, that's the only explanation I can give. Just think about it. If you put the worst twist, the worst spin, on what she accused Clarence Thomas of, you'd have to say he used inappropriate language. Now, he didn't that but she believed it -- [...]
KING: Senator Hatch, a final thought for you. As you give it, could you weigh in on the question of -- she has every right as a citizen to have political activity but is there a line sometimes where it puts the justice in a tough spot maybe of having to consider recusal?
HATCH: Both of them know what the line is and Clarence Thomas is very careful about meeting strict judicial standards. He's a totally honest man. I haven't met anybody I'd rate any higher than Clarence Thomas. When I called him and said, did you do this? He said, no, sir. I know, if he had, he would have said, yes, I did those things. You look at what happened in the past, my gosh, Clarence Thomas, you put the worst spin on it, you'd have to say it was inappropriate language. It wasn't true the accusation against him, but look at what's happened in this town since. I've got to say, I wish our friends on the feminist side and on the Democratic side would find as much fault with those who have gone way beyond any accusation that was made to Clarence Thomas, but yet find so much fault with Ginni Thomas because she's a conservative. And to bring up the tea party, that's only done to smear her, I'm convinced of that.
Look, I was there. I know this more intimately than almost anybody. I can tell you Clarence Thomas was telling the truth. I believe that Anita Hill was an excellent witness. I think she actually believed and talked herself into believing what she said. There was sexual harasser at that time according to the sources I had and he was her supervisor, he just wasn't Clarence Thomas. I think she transposed that to where she believed it because she was outed by the feminist women at that time and she couldn't change her mind after -- she couldn't change her tune. And that's what happened. I wish her well. I hope that she does a good job up there. And it's just the way it is. But don't smear Clarence Thomas and above all don't smear his wife, Ginni. She's a really good person.
