Trump lawyer knew plan to delay Biden certification was unlawful, emails show

[Nevilledog]

Link to tweet

Tweet text:

Hugo Lowell
@hugolowell
KEY to JAN. 6: Former Trump lawyer John Eastman admitted in an email that the
scheme to have Pence stop Biden’s certification was unlawful — but pushed him to violate the law anyway. @GuardianUS

theguardian.com
Trump lawyer knew plan to delay Biden certification was unlawful, emails show
John Eastman conceded that scheme represented violation of Electoral Count Act but urged Mike Pence to move forward anyway
9:53 AM · Mar 10, 2022

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/mar/10/trump-lawyer-plan-john-eastman-mike-pence

Interrupting the certification of Joe Biden’s election win on 6 January last year as part of the scheme to return Donald Trump to office was known to be unlawful by at least one of the former president’s lawyers, according to an email exchange about the potential conspiracy.

The former Trump lawyer John Eastman – who helped coordinate the scheme from the Trump “war room” at the Willard hotel in Washington – conceded in an email to counsel for then vice-president Mike Pence, Greg Jacob, that the plan was a violation of the Electoral Count Act.

But Eastman then urged Pence to move ahead with the scheme anyway, pressuring the former vice-president’s counsel to consider supporting the effort on the basis that it was only a “minor violation” of the statute that governed the certification procedure.

The admission that the scheme was unlawful undercuts arguments by Eastman and the Willard war room team that they believed there was no wrongdoing in seeking to have Pence delay the certification past 6 January – one of the strategies they sought to return Trump to power.

*snip*

[unblock]

1. I love how he figures a coup is just a "minor violation"

[Nevilledog]

2. Just a little tiny one. No biggie trying to destroy democracy.

[DanieRains]

3. Sedition Guilty

Jail this traitor.

[Chainfire]

4. It is abundantly clear, even from the little we know, That Donald Trump and

an extended criminal gang, uses every method, legal, grey and illegal to overthrow the elected government and install himself as a fake President. You have to ask yourself, why is he still free? If we can't punish this tyrant, then we are already gone. I am afraid that we are. We are drowning in a sea of red and green. I do not believe that our "justice" system is going to throw us a lifeline...an anchor maybe...

It is the largest criminal conspiracy the country has ever seen and we are bogged down in minutia. Trump and everyone who helped him should be prosecuted under the Rico statutes, jailed as flight risks until tried, tried, convicted and sentenced to long prison terms. If that does not happen then there is no justice, and without justice the government has no legitimacy.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

5. Lock him up!!!!!

[Chainfire]

6. It is abundantly clear, even from the little we know, That Donald Trump and

an extended criminal gang, uses every method, legal, grey and illegal to overthrow the elected government and install himself as a fake President. You have to ask yourself, why is he still free? If we can't punish this tyrant, then we are already gone. I am afraid that we are. We are drowning in a sea of red and green. I do not believe that our "justice" system is going to throw us a lifeline...an anchor maybe...

It is the largest criminal conspiracy the country has ever seen and we are bogged down in minutia. Trump and everyone who helped him should be prosecuted under the Rico statutes, jailed as flight risks until tried, tried, convicted and sentenced to long prison terms. If that does not happen then there is no justice, and without justice the government has no legitimacy.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

7. The claim that TFG did not know that he was breaking the law will not pass the smell test

[Chainfire]

8. I am not a lawyer, but I watched three episodes of Perry Mason.

If it can be verified that Eastman encouraged the administration to break the law, and then they attempted it, doesn't that remove any lawyer/client privilege claim that he may have? Wouldn't he be forced to reveal everything that he knows about Trump under penalty of perjury? Would he have a valid claim to the fifth amendment in protecting his co-conspirator?

[Grasswire2]

9. AND.......drum roll.........

KNOWING you were breaking the law and doing it anyway proves INTENT to commit a crime.

They can no longer claim that INTENT can't be proven here.

[gratuitous]

10. Based on the recent conviction of the Oaf Keeper nitwit

I think the bar for proving the case against some of these guys may not be as high as prosecutors fret. Yes, I realize the wisdom of the old adage, "If you shoot at the king, you'd better not miss." I also realize that any good defense attorney is going to try to bamboozle the jury into thinking that each member has to peer into the empty souls of the accused to try to discern their intent. I don't think jurors are quite that metaphysical

[Grasswire2]

11. yes, but often a known crime is not charged because of whining about proving intent.

And so they don't bring the case.

(I think we are saying the same thing, essentially.)

[alwaysinasnit]

12. This might be the nail (I hope) that seals his disbarment in California.

https://www.calbar.ca.gov/About-Us/News/News-Releases/state-bar-announces-john-eastman-ethics-investigation

The State Bar of California’s Chief Trial Counsel George Cardona announced today that since September 2021, his office has been conducting an investigation of John Charles Eastman (State Bar No. 193726), a California licensed attorney. The investigation is focused on whether Eastman engaged in conduct in violation of California law and ethics rules governing attorneys following and in relation to the November 2020 presidential election.

The announcement is made pursuant to Business and Professions Code section 6086.1(b)(2) and State Bar Rule of Procedure 2302(d)(1), which authorize the Chief Trial Counsel, when warranted for protection of the public and after notice to the licensee, to issue an announcement confirming the fact of an investigation, clarifying the procedural aspects and current status of the investigation, and defending the right of a licensee to a fair hearing. Details of the investigation must remain confidential to comply with statutory limitations on disclosure and to give the investigation the greatest chance of success. Mr. Eastman has been advised of the Chief Trial Counsel’s announcement.

“A number of individuals and entities have brought to the State Bar’s attention press reports, court filings, and other public documents detailing Mr. Eastman’s conduct,” said Cardona. “We want to thank those who took the time to bring to our attention this information, which serves as the starting point for our investigation. We will be proceeding with a single State Bar investigation in which we will continue to gather and analyze relevant evidence and go wherever it leads us.”

snip...