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The wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas was smack in the middle of Donald Trump's bogus 'Stop the Steal' campaign, and she was involved at the highest levels.

Virginia Thomas repeatedly contacted White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, pushing to have the 2020 presidential election results overturned.

She fired off a series of text messages in the weeks after the election, lobbying for a way to have Donald Trump declared the winner ... this according to the Washington Post.

There were 29 messages between Virginia -- aka Ginni -- and Meadows. What's interesting -- and troubling -- is that the exchanges came at a time when Trump was crowing that he would go to the Supreme Court to invalidate the election results.

In a message one week after the election, she wrote, "Help This Great President stand firm, Mark!!! ... You are the leader, with him, who is standing for America’s constitutional governance at the precipice. The majority knows Biden and the Left is attempting the greatest Heist of our History."

The Washington Post and CBS News obtained the text messages.

In another exchange, Meadows wrote, "This is a fight of good versus evil ... Evil always looks like the victor until the King of Kings triumphs. Do not grow weary in well-doing. The fight continues. I have staked my career on it. Well at least my time in DC on it."

Her response ... "Thank you!! Needed that! This plus a conversation with my best friend just now… I will try to keep holding on. America is worth it!"

She never revealed the identity of her best friend.

Now she never invoked her husband's name, but she certainly was able to flex with Trump's key people to make her case.

The text messages were provided by Meadows to the House Select Committee investigating the January 6th insurrection.

Ginni Thomas attended the January 6th rally, although she never entered the capitol. She said she left early because it was super cold.

Justice Thomas dissented when the Supreme Court refused to hear the GOP's lawsuit seeking to overturn the election results in Pennsylvania.

Madeleine Albright, the first woman to serve as U.S. Secretary of State, is dead after battling cancer.

Sec. Albright's daughter, Anne, says her mother passed away surrounded by family and friends. The statement announcing her passing says, "We have lost a loving mother, grandmother, sister, aunt and friend,” as well as a “tireless champion of democracy and human rights.”

President Bill Clinton selected Madeleine to be his Sec. of State in 1997. He'd previously named her U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations in 1993.

Albright famously helped guide American foreign policy in the wake of the Soviet Union's fall and the Cold War.

During that key moment in history, Albright championed the expansion of NATO, pushed for U.S. intervention in the Balkans to stop ethnic cleansing and the  championed the reduction of nuclear weapons around the world.

Interestingly, her passing comes just as the U.S. weighs the matter of intervention in Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Albright coined the term "assertive multilateralism" to describe the Clinton administration's foreign policy.

She boldly declared the U.S. was an "indispensable nation" when it comes to defending democracies across the globe. She told NBC News in 1998, "I know that the American men and women in uniform are always prepared to sacrifice for freedom, democracy and the American way of life."

Albright had a very personal connection to the horrors of fascism, having been born to a father who was forced to flee his homeland of Czechoslovakia when the Nazis invaded in 1939. Her family emigrated to the U.S. in 1948.

President Barack Obama awarded her the Medal of Freedom, the country’s highest civilian honor.

Albright is survived by her brother and sister, 3 daughters and 6 grandchildren.

She was 84.

Soccer star Paul Pogba is revealing more information about the terrifying burglary that he says happened at his home earlier this month ... saying his World Cup championship medal was stolen in the heist.

The Manchester United midfielder made the revelation in an in-depth interview with Le Figaro this week -- saying in addition to the prized award, his mother's jewelry was also taken.

Pogba won the medal in 2018, after he and his French national squad beat Croatia, 4-2, in the 2018 World Cup Final.

But, in his interview, Pogba -- who said he was playing in a soccer match on March 15 at the time of the incident -- just seemed grateful that his kids and their nanny weren't hurt during the break-in.

"What scared me the most," he said, "was that my two children were at home with the nanny during this incident. She overheard everything, called my wife and security, then locked herself and the boys in a room."

Tyreek Hill is no longer a Chief -- the speedy wide receiver has been traded to the Miami Dolphins for a mountain of draft picks.

ESPN's Adam Schefter just reported the news ... saying the 'Fins are sending a 2022 first-round pick, a 2022 second-round pick, a 2022 fourth-round pick as well as two picks in the 2023 draft to get the deal done.

Schefter added the Dolphins are giving Hill a $120 million contract extension that will make him the highest-paid receiver in the NFL as part of the trade.

Hill spent 6 seasons with Kansas City ... where he played in 91 total games, recording 479 receptions, 6,630 yards, and 56 touchdowns.

In his final season with the Chiefs, Hill logged 111 receptions on 159 targets and scored 9 TDs.

The 28-year-old speedster was no doubt an integral part of the Chiefs' success over the years -- they went to 4 straight AFC Championship Games and back-to-back Super Bowls -- so his presence will be certainly be missed in Patrick Mahomes' huddle.

Ex-NFL running back Mark Walton has been arrested again ... after cops say he helped rob a person at gunpoint in February.

According to police documents, obtained by TMZ Sports, cops say Walton and another person pulled a gun on someone on Feb. 4 in Miami and demanded "everything."

In the docs, cops say there was a confrontation between the three, but claim Watson and his alleged accomplice made off with the person's Rolex. Cops say in the docs the robbery was captured on surveillance footage.

Police say they eventually arrested Walton on Tuesday after they obtained a search warrant to go through the home he was staying in.

Jail records show Walton was booked at 4:49 PM ET and is being held without bond. The records also show the 24-year-old was booked on a charge of robbery/armed/firearm or deadly weapon.

Walton is certainly no stranger to run-ins with the law -- he's been arrested several times in the last few years, including last year when he was accused of exploding on employees at a Florida Pizza Hut.

Walton was also accused in 2019 of striking a pregnant woman, who told police in a 911 call, "My boyfriend beat me up."

Walton was picked in the 4th round of the 2018 NFL Draft by the Cincinnati Bengals. He later played for the Miami Dolphins, before he was cut over his legal troubles.

The Orlando Pride is saying a big sorry to its fans ... after it forced a group of its supporters at its home stadium to take down a banner that had the word "GAY" painted on it.

The National Women's Soccer League team issued the mea culpa on Tuesday afternoon -- explaining it erred when it forced the removal of the sign at its home game on Saturday.

If you missed it, a Pride support group called the "Black Swans" attempted to hang the sign at the team's home game against Washington on Saturday, in what appeared to be a clear effort to oppose Florida's controversial "Don't Say Gay" bill.

The Swans, though, said the team made them take it down for "political reasons" -- something they said they were furious over.

But, the Pride "deeply" apologized for the action this week ... saying in a statement it screwed up.

"The organization admits it wrongly focused on signage policies and procedures, instead of allowing the important meaning of this message," said the Pride, who actually have 49 rainbow seats set up in their stadium to honor Pulse nightclub victims.

"It is a privilege and duty to create a safe, inclusive environment at Orlando Pride matches, and the Club deeply apologizes for violating that trust through this incorrect decision."

The team added the Swans will be allowed to hang the banner -- or something similar to it -- at home games moving forward if it wants.

NFL reporter John Clayton, who covered the league for decades and was one of the most recognizable reporters on television, has died at the age of 67 years old.

The detail surrounding Clayton's death are not publicly known ... but John's friend and former colleague Chris Mortensen provided some information on social media.

"John Clayton passed away today at a Seattle area hospital. His wife Pat and sister Amy were at his side and communicated earlier he passed peacefully after a brief illness," Chris wrote.

"We loved John. We are mourning his loss. Pat has asked the @Seahawks to release further information."

Clayton began covering professional football in the early 1970s in Pittsburgh ... and ended up rising all the way to ESPN, where he wrote for the website, and appeared on TV and radio.

He first joined the network in 1995.

Aside from all his great on-camera work in Bristol, John also starred in one of the funniest ESPN commercials ever ... dropping the line, "Hey Ma, I'm done with my segment!!"

Clayton, a member of the writer's wing in the Pro Football Hall of Fame (2007), was incredibly respected by both colleagues and fans.

JC was also inducted into the HOF at his Alma Mater, Duquesne University, in 2001.

John is survived by his wife Patricia.

Jussie Smollett is going free -- at least for now -- while he tries to get his sentence for the hoax attack overturned.

The appeals court ordered Jussie's release during the appeal process. He's being released from Cook County Jail on his own recognizance, but if he misses any future hearings it'll cost him $150,000. It's unclear when exactly he'll be walking free.

Clearly, the state isn't happy with the decision ... its response to the ask for release reads, in part, "Rather than attempt to meet his burden of showing good cause for his immediate release, Mr. Smollett makes only cursory, woefully undeveloped arguments. Each fails to demonstrate good cause to stay his jail sentence."

As you know, Jussie had begun serving his 5 months last Thursday -- and immediately after the judge sentenced him he was defiant ... shouting he was innocent and raising his fist in the air as he was taken out of court in handcuffs.

His defense team and family members never stopped pressing for his release, though ... claiming Jussie was in physical danger while behind bars. They cited racist and homophobic threats they'd received, and also said Jussie was immunocompromised ... and highly susceptible to contracting COVID-19 while in jail

Story developing ...

Bob Saget's death has some people wondering if this was something more than a tragic accident, but new law enforcement documents reinforce the conclusion authorities found ... Bob hit his head on something in his hotel room and died in bed.

The document -- the Orange County Sheriff's Incident Report -- makes it clear ... when Bob arrived at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Orlando just after 2 AM on January 9, he was fine. According to the doc, obtained by TMZ, when Bob drove up to the valet as he approached the entrance and the valet asked for a selfie and Bob obliged. The valet says Bob seemed fine and there was no evidence of slurred speech, balance issues or anything else that might sound alarm bells.

The document details that Bob was observed on security video walking "purposely across the lobby toward the elevators without stopping or interacting with anyone." No one else is seen in the video ... Bob walked to his room alone.

Once inside the room, the door was never unlocked or opened until security came later that day and discovered his body.

The Chief Medical Examiner explained why the operating theory was that Bob may have struck his head on the headboard of the bed. The M.E. says the force necessary to cause the fracture coupled with the fact the skin on the back of his head was still in tact led him to believe the injury was most likely caused by "something hard, covered by something soft."

Cops went back to the hotel room to check what object may have caused the fatal injury, and they ruled out countertops, tables, nightstands and other hard furniture, because they all had sharp and defined edges.

The family of Scott Hall -- the wrestling legend who was one of the famous founding members of the NWO -- will "discontinue" his life support on Monday ... his good friend Kevin Nash announced.

Nash, who wrestled with Hall in the WCW and helped form the NWO with the 63-year-old in the late 1990s, said doctors will end Hall's life support "once his family is in place" later Monday.

"I'm going to lose the one person on this planet I've spent more of my life with than anyone else," Nash wrote on his social media page late Sunday night.

"My heart is broken and I'm so very f***ing sad. I love Scott with all my heart but now I have to prepare my life without him in the present."

Hall was put on life support following complications from a procedure to fix a broken hip he injured in a recent fall. According to PW Torch, Hall suffered three heart attacks while trying to recover from the surgery in the hospital on Saturday night.

Nash was emotional in his post announcing the sad news ... saying, "As we prepare for life without him just remember there goes a great guy you ain't going to see another one like him again."

"See Ya down the road Scott," Nash added. "I couldn't love a human being any more than I do you."

MLB star Marcell Ozuna says he apologized to his teammates after police video showed him putting his hands on his wife ... explaining he told the Braves, "I made a mistake."

Speaking with reporters at spring training for the first time since he was arrested for grabbing his wife around her neck in a May 2021 altercation ... Ozuna said he addressed the situation with his Atlanta teammates.

Ozuna told media members he apologized to the Braves vehemently ... saying, "I said I'm sorry. I made a mistake."

Ozuna then issued a mea culpa to fans -- urging them to not change their opinion of him based on the '21 incident.

"I would just tell them, treat me as the person I was before," the two-time All-Star said. "Like, I was an amazing person out and in the field. So I'm going to be like that."

As we reported, Ozuna was arrested on May 21 after cops say he struck his wife and also attempted to strangle her at a residence in Georgia.

Ozuna was initially charged with two felonies ... but the counts were ultimately reduced to misdemeanor family violence charges -- and Ozuna agreed to enter into a pretrial diversion program to close out the case.

Ozuna was ordered to, among other things, take an anger management course and complete at least 200 hours of community service. He was also placed on 6 months of supervision.

The MLB, meanwhile, suspended him 20 games, but the ban was retroactive ... meaning Ozuna can play right away this season for the Braves.

Pete Davidson is officially taking off, not just in his celebrity status -- but in space too ... 'cause he's now got a launch date for the next manned flight that Jeff Bezos sends up in the air ... and he's learned who his fellow passengers will be as well.

The announcement was made Monday ... Pete's going to be joining 5 others on the forthcoming mission, which is scheduled to hit the skies and beyond on March 23 (next Wednesday) in West Texas. It'll be Blue Origin's fourth human flight.

As far as who else he's going with -- all of whom are paying customers BTW -- Pete will be joined by Party America CEO Marty Allen, hubby and wife duo Sharon and Marc Hagle, entrepreneur Jim Kitchen and Commercial Space Technologies Prez Dr. George Nield.

And, of course ... there's Pete, whom we're told continued talks with Bezos about potentially going up back in January, when he had dinner with the guy in L.A.

Another cool thing about this flight, specifically, is that it'll be incorporating a kids element -- namely, through a program called Postcards to Space ... which is being deployed by Blue Origin's foundation, Club for the Future. It's actually kinda neat.

Essentially, students write up postcards that they'd like to see in the stars, and Blue Origin provides the vehicle to get their dreams into orbit ... carried by all the different passengers. The whole idea is to encourage young people to join STEM fields as they pursue their education.

Pete will join a growing list of celebs that have already gone up, including Michael Strahan and William Shatner. Bezos himself also went up during the initial manned-flight.

Barack Obama says he's contracted COVID-19 -- but the good news is that he's doing alright ... attributing that to the fact he's vaccinated.

The former President announced his status Sunday, writing ... "I just tested positive for COVID. I’ve had a scratchy throat for a couple days, but am feeling fine otherwise. Michelle and I are grateful to be vaccinated and boosted, and she has tested negative."

He adds, "It’s a reminder to get vaccinated if you haven’t already, even as cases go down."

BO is the second living president to have tested positive for the virus -- of course, Donald Trump caught it in 2020 (right in the thick of the pandemic) and seemed to be quite ill for a bit ... as he had to take a pause on campaigning to get treatment and to quarantine.

Luckily, Joe Biden hasn't contracted COVID himself -- neither has Jimmy Carter, George W. Bush or Bill Clinton, FWIW -- even though he was at a high risk of doing so due to Trump attending that September debate, at which point he'd reportedly already tested positive.

While it's pretty shocking to hear Barack is positive, it's not all that surprising or worrisome -- especially at this point in the pandemic ... when lots of people (including politicians) have also caught it, only to come back at 100% shortly thereafter.

We've seen fully-vaccinated senators and representatives announce their COVID breakthrough cases in recent months ... and just about every one of them kicked it quickly, attributing their mild to nonexistent symptoms to the jab.

President Biden is continuing to tighten the screws on Russia, announcing a ban on Vodka, caviar and diamonds imported from the country.

On Friday, 46 announced that he -- along with the nations that make up the EU and G7 -- will revoke Russia's "most favored nation" trade status ... allowing the U.S. and other allies to impose higher tariffs on Russian imports.

The downgrade will also put a ban on Russian vodka, certain seafood and Russian diamonds.

We should note, Russian vodka makes up a small percentage of vodkas on the shelves in the U.S. ... a few Russian-made brands include Russian Standard, Beluga Noble Russian Vodka and Beluga Noble Russian Gold Vodka.

Back in 2019, Russia was the 26th largest goods trading partner of the U.S. ... the majority of those goods being Russian oil and gas -- which Biden banned earlier this week.

It's been nearly SIX years since Colin Kaepernick last took a snap in the NFL ... but the quarterback said on Thursday he's "still working" to make it back.

The 34-year-old made the announcement on his social media page ... while sharing a video of one of his latest workouts.

In the clip, Kaepernick can be seen dropping back on a football field, rolling to his right, and throwing a pass several yards downfield.

ESPN's Adam Schefter reported following the video's release that a source close to Kap says the ex-49ers star is currently "in the best shape of his life."

"He wants to play," Schefter said the source added. "He's ready play. He would be a great fit for teams with QB vacancies to fill who want to win a Super Bowl."

It's the first time in months that Kaepernick has said he still has NFL aspirations. You'll recall, he most recently spoke about a potential comeback in October, when he told Ebony that he's "training five, six days a week" to make it back.

We're told Kap's reps have been reaching out to teams in need of a quarterback ... in an effort to let teams know Colin is ready to play.

Kaepernick last played in an NFL game on Jan. 1, 2017. He threw for 215 yards and a touchdown in that game, which resulted in a loss to the Seahawks.

Kap has claimed repeatedly since then that the league was blackballing him over the way he started kneeling demonstrations during pregame national anthems.

The Utah Jazz organization is stepping up to help the Ukrainian people amid the Russian invasion ... by providing more than 32,200 nights of housing for refugees fleeing the country.

The team made the announcement on Wednesday ... saying it teamed up with Airbnb.org -- a nonprofit devoted to providing housing to those in need -- to make the gesture happen.

Jazz Executive chairman and co-owner Ryan Smith spoke about the decision to help out ... saying, "Connection and community have never been more important than it is today."

"Millions of people have been forced to leave behind their entire lives in Ukraine. Airbnb.org is connecting host families with refugees in need, creating safe havens when so many communities are being torn apart."

He added ... "And we can’t stop there. I encourage every organization to support Airbnb.org’s important initiative, to magnify their impact and house enough refugees to fill their arenas or workplaces.”

The incredibly kind gesture comes at a time when Ukraine is being ravaged every day by violence at the hands of Vladimir Putin and Russian troops -- forcing many of its citizens to flee out of safety concerns.

In fact, more than 2.1 million people have evacuated since February 24.

Airbnb co-founder and chairman of Airbnb.org, Joe Gebbia, was extremely thankful for the commitment from the team ... saying, "I cannot begin to express my thanks to the Utah Jazz Foundation for their support of Airbnb.org’s work."