Enlarge By Charles Dharapak, AP Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas sits with his wife, Virginia Lamp Thomas, as he is introduced at the Federalist Society in Washington in 2007. Anita Hill Scott Wintrow,

Getty Images WASHINGTON  Virginia Thomas, the wife of Justice Clarence Thomas, recently contacted Brandeis University professor Anita Hill, who had accused Thomas of sexual harassment 19 years ago during his Senate confirmation hearings for the Supreme Court "I did place a call to Ms. Hill at her office extending an olive branch to her after all these years, in hopes that we could ultimately get passed (sic) what happened so long ago," Thomas, who goes by Ginni, said in a statement released Tuesday by Keith Appell of CRC Public Relations on her behalf, after ABC News first reported that she had sought an apology from Hill. Thomas is president of Liberty Central, a conservative non-profit organization. COURT COVERAGE: More on the Supreme Court CASE LOG: Major cases facing Supreme Court "That offer still stands," the statement continued. "I would be very happy to meet and talk with her if she would be willing to do the same. Certainly no offense was ever intended." It was not clear whether Justice Thomas knew his wife had contacted Hill. Thomas denied the sexual harassment allegations in 1991 and has referred bitterly to the incident in the years since, including in his 2007 memoir. Supreme Court public information officer Kathy Arberg said the justice was traveling and was not available for comment. ABC News reported earlier Tuesday that Hill had received a message on her voicemail at work that said, "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 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. OK, have a good day." Hill told ABC News, "I have no intention of apologizing, and I stand by my testimony in 1991." Clarence Thomas, 62, was nominated by President George H.W. Bush. The allegations by Hill, who had worked for Thomas at the Department of Education civil rights division and then when he was chairman of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, nearly derailed his nomination. He was confirmed by the Senate on a vote of 52-48. After Hill testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee in October 1991, Thomas took the witness chair and deemed the proceedings "a high-tech lynching." In his 2007 memoir, My Grandfather's Son, Thomas recounted the accusations by Hill and compared himself to the black defendant wrongly charged with rape in the book To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Messages left on Hill's voicemail and e-mail by USA TODAY were not immediately returned Tuesday night. Guidelines: You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. Use the "Report Abuse" button to make a difference. You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. Use the "Report Abuse" button to make a difference. Read more