Trump team memo reportedly reveals plan to overturn 2020 election: ‘Pence should do this without asking for permission’
Dani Repass
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An election attorney who worked with then-President Donald Trump gave VP Pence a six-step plan to overturn the 2020 election, according to a new book.
“The main thing here is that Pence should do this without asking for permission – either from a vote of the joint session or from the court,” the memo, reportedly written by John Eastman, reads. “The fact is that the Constitution assigns this power to the Vice President as the ultimate arbiter. We should take all of our actions with that in mind.”
The memo, first obtained by Washington Post journalists Bob Woodward and Robert Costa, was allegedly sent to Pence on January 4th, two days before he was set to certify the election before Congress. Eastman’s plan centered around only counting votes in states that didn’t have ongoing electoral disputes and falsely alleged that those states – such as Arizona – had relied on invalid electors.
Once those states, and the millions of votes from them, were discarded, Eastman alleged that Pence could declare Trump the winner.
“A ‘majority of the electors appointed’ would therefore be 228. There are at this point 232 votes for Trump, 222 votes for Biden. Pence then gavels President Trump as re-elected,” Eastman reportedly wrote.
The memo also shows that Eastman prepared a contingency plan to deal with “howls” from Democrats.
“Howls, of course, from Democrats, who now claim, contrary to [a Harvard law professor’s] prior position, that 270 is required. So Pence says, fine…that sends the matter to the House, where the ‘votes shall be taken by the states…,’” Eastman wrote. “Republicans currently control 26 of the state delegations, the bare majority needed to win that vote. President Trump is re-elected there as well.”
Eastman allegedly sent the memo to Senators Mike Lee (R-UT) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC), while Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani tried to convince the senators of election fraud. However, neither lawmaker was willing to attach themselves to Eastman’s memo.
“You might as well make your case to Queen Elizabeth II. Congress can’t do this. You’re wasting your time,” Lee reportedly told Trump’s legal team.
Once Graham and Lee were no-gos, Trump himself reportedly attempted to appeal to Pence.
“You really need to listen to John [Eastman],” Trump allegedly told Pence. “He is a respected constitutional scholar. Hear him out.”
Neither Eastman nor Senators Graham or Lee responded to the Independent Chronicle’s request for comment.