Trump Pressured VP Pence To Break The Law

Donald Trump and his lawyer John Eastman repeatedly pressured former Vice President Mike Pence to overturn the 2020 election results. They focused on trying to get him to refuse to certify the Electoral College results on January 6, 2021. Eastman argued that Pence could simply reject the official results submitted by states if he thought they were illegitimate, giving Republicans in those states an opportunity to declare Trump the victor with an alternate slate of fake electors, despite Biden winning those states.

According to Pence’s White House attorney Gregory Jacob, Eastman admitted in front of Donald Trump two days before the January 6th attack on the Capitol Building that his plan to have Pence halt the procedure would violate U.S. law. Eastman also wrote memos prior to that date stating that the Vice President did not have unilateral authority to reject electors.

John Eastman now faces the possible loss of his legal license in California and criminal charges in the Georgia 2020 election probe, alongside Trump and 17 other co-defendants.

Full Audio Transcript:

"The American people deserve to know that President Trump and his advisors didn't just ask me to pause; they asked me to reject votes, return votes—essentially, to overturn the election—and to keep faith with the oath that I made to the American people and to almighty God. I rejected that out of hand and I did my duty that day."

— Mike Pence on Fox News