John Eastman acknowledged the plot to block certification of Joe Biden’s election victory wasn’t legal but, ultimately, aggressively pushed it anyway. Even after the attack on the Capitol, he pushed for then-Vice President Mike Pence to overturn the election.
And Eastman later sought a presidential pardon from President Donald Trump.
That was some of the evidence the Jan. 6 committee laid out Thursday during its third public hearing to build a case that Trump’s pressure campaign against Pence was an unconstitutional bid to reverse his defeat, many times turning to Eastman’s own emails and testimony to highlight how he had been the architect of the scheme to keep Trump in power.
The committee hasn’t been circumspect about its desire to see the Department of Justice file criminal charges — including targeting Trump — for the events that unfolded around Jan. 6. And the hearing on Thursday appeared to be making the case that Trump — and Eastman — knew what they were doing wasn’t legal.
Here are the key takeaways from the third Jan. 6 committee public hearing:
Eastman was aiding Trump’s pressure campaign
On Jan. 4, 2021, two days before the deadly Capitol riot, Eastman acknowledged to Trump, Pence counsel Greg Jacob and others in the Oval Office that his strategy violated the Electoral Count Act and was illegal, Jacob testified.
A day later, Eastman had reversed course and was again pushing the Pence team to pursue the most aggressive option: reject electors from contested states in a bid to overturn the election.
“I was surprised because I viewed it as one of the key concessions the night before,” Jacob told the Jan. 6 panel Thursday.
Even after Pence and congressional lawmakers had to flee for their safety, multiple people had died in the attack, Eastman — late on the night of Jan. 6 — emailed a furious Jacob and asked the Pence team to “consider one more relatively minor violation” and delay certification for 10 days to allow states to investigate unfounded allegations of widespread fraud.
“So even after the attack on the Capitol had been quelled, Dr. Eastman requested — in writing no less — that the vice president violate the law by delaying the certification and sending the question back to the states?” asked John Wood, a senior investigative counsel for the committee. “Is that correct?”
“It is,” Jacob replied.
Finally, the committee presented an email where Eastman informs Rudy Guiliani, then Trump’s personal attorney,…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at NBC News Top Stories…