Then-President Donald Trump walks into the Oval Office in December 2020. (Tasos Katopodis / Getty Images)
At today’s hearing, which focuses on former President Donald Trump’s effort to pressure former Vice President Mike Pence to obstruct certification in the 2020 election, the committee will detail numerous examples of Trump reported by lawyers he trusted or appointed. that the legal challenges were without merit.
Despite this advice, Trump ignored these voices and went to find lawyers who would tell him essentially what he wanted to hear.
House select committee sources say the committee will detail in detail through evidence and eyewitness accounts, as lawyer after lawyer warned Trump that the plan to use Pence as a way to deny certification was on the ground. unstable and could lead to major problems, including participation. the path of peaceful transfer of power.
One source described Trump’s effort as having door-to-door closed in his face, but instead of backing down he kept looking for new doors to open until he found a lawyer who would open the door for him to file the legal challenge that wanted: John Eastman.
A certain context: In an email exchange between Eastman and Pence’s attorney, Greg Jacob, who came out in court earlier this year, Eastman acknowledged that Trump’s lawsuits had no legal merit.
On the afternoon of January 6, 2021, Jacob wrote: “Did you advise the President that in your professional judgment, does the Vice President NOT have the power to decide things unilaterally?” to which Eastman replied, “You’ve been advised, as you know, because you were on the phone when I did it. I shouldn’t talk about other calls … But you know him, once he has something after all, it’s hard to change course. “