Trump urged Pence to dismiss the electoral college votes for seven states. 4, 2021, Oval Office meeting with Trump and Pence to discuss what authority Pence had. Not all states have laws that require electoral college representatives to vote with the majority of the people in the state.ĭepositions released by the committee show that Eastman was part of several meetings with Pence’s staff, including a Jan. The second, more radical approach would require Pence to delay the certification of the electoral college count to give state lawmakers time to select a new slate of electors who would vote for President Trump. The first option, Eastman advised, would be for Pence to declare the results in key battleground states in dispute, leaving the votes uncounted and turning the election in President Trump’s favor. Eastman’s advice sought to interfere with this process in two ways. Constitution, the vice president is also the president of the Senate and must count the electoral college votes in the presence of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The committee is focusing on two legal memos Eastman wrote in which he advised Pence of two options for overturning the election results. Eastman is a senior fellow at the Claremont Institute, a right-wing think tank, and founded the Center for Constitutional Jurisprudence. He clerked for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas before his 21-year teaching career at Chapman University’s law school in Orange. Who is John Eastman?Įastman, 62, was born in Lincoln, Neb., and holds a bachelor’s degree in politics and economics from the University of Dallas, a law degree from the University of Chicago Law School and a doctorate in government from the Claremont Graduate School in Claremont. 6, 2021, attack is expected to focus heavily on Eastman’s role. Thursday’s hearing by the House Select Committee investigating the Jan. His theory that Pence could reject state votes or delay the certification of the election made him the “central player in the development of a legal strategy to justify a coup,” according to House General Counsel Douglas Letter. A few hours later, after Trump addressed them, the crowd stormed the Capitol and violently disrupted the count.Įastman is one of many figures who played a key role in the “Stop the Steal” movement. Stretched before Eastman, a former Chapman University professor, were thousands of supporters of former President Trump. He is a senior fellow at the Claremont Institute. JAn earlier version of this article said that John Eastman led the Claremont Institute.
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