John Eastman, a conservative lawyer advising President Donald Trump, sought a presidential pardon after pushing a plan to overturn the 2020 election that he knew to be illegal, evidence and testimony showed during a hearing Thursday by the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection. Eastman had aggressively pushed a plan for Vice President Mike Pence to use his authority to help overturn the results, but acknowledged to Pence attorney Greg Jacob that the plot violated the law and would lose at the Supreme Court “nine to nothing,” Jacob testified.
Meanwhile, Rep. Bennie G. Thompson (D-Miss.), chairman of the House committee, said earlier Thursday that the panel plans to invite Virginia “Ginni” Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, to be interviewed. People involved in the investigation say newly obtained email correspondence between her and Eastman have revealed that her efforts to overturn the 2020 election were more extensive than previously known. Thomas said in a media interview that she looks forward to talking to the committee.
What you need to know
Analysis: Four takeaways from Thursday’s hearing
Thursday’s hearing centered on Donald Trump’s pressure campaign to get Pence to overturn the election. As Aaron Blake writes, four key takeaways emerged from the hearing’s revelations:
- Giuliani and Eastman, two of Trump’s top advisers, knew their plot was probably illegal, witnesses said. It came up over and over again during the hearing that lawyer John Eastman, who was advising Trump, was aware his plan violated the Electoral Count Act, and that his argument would lose before a court. The committee also produced evidence showing Rudy Giuliani also may have not been confident about the legality of the plot he was pushing. And here’s the key thing: Knowledge of the plot being illegal is significant when it comes to proving whether the Jan. 6 plotters committed a crime.
- Eastman asked for a pardon — via email. The committee revealed that the lawyer emailed Giuliani and asked to be put on Trump’s pardon list. He wasn’t. This is big, not just because by seeking a pardon, Eastman acknowledged his own legal liability, but also because he acknowledged the existence of a “pardon list.” There may be more people on it.
- Pence said rejecting Trump’s plot was the “most important thing” he’d ever say. Pence, the hearing proved, was fully aware of the historic nature of his actions that day. Him viewing his rejection of Trump’s plans in such way makes it more difficult for other Republicans to argue that what happened on Jan. 6 wasn’t a big deal.
- Democrats hailed Pence. It’s not easy to find common ground between Democrats and the former vice president, and Democrats had been reluctant to characterize Pence as some kind of hero. But they were happy to do so Thursday, painting him as a righteous counterpoint to Trump.
Read more from Aaron’s takeaways here.
Recent Comments