A conservative lawyer chastised Vice President Mike Pence for his refusal to challenge the results of the 2020 election as the Capitol riot forced him and lawmakers into hiding.
The message from John Eastman, who wrote legal memos outlining ways the vice president could try to overturn the election, to Pence chief counsel Greg Jacob was reported late Friday night by the Washington Post.
“The ‘siege’ is because YOU and your boss did not do what was necessary to allow this to be aired in a public way so that the American people can see for themselves what happened,” Eastman said in the email.
WOODWARD AND COSTA REPORT TRUMP CALLED WILLARD HOTEL ‘WAR ROOM’ ON EVE OF CAPITOL RIOT
Despite pressure from former President Donald Trump and the chaos on Jan. 6, Pence did not try to send the results back to certain states Trump lost in November over claims of election fraud. In fact, he sent a letter to Congress saying that he did not have the power to reject Electoral College votes, dealing a further blow to Trump’s hopes to deny a presidential victory to Joe Biden.
The email was part of a draft opinion article Jacob wrote in January that he ultimately did not publish. He wrote Eastman “displayed a shocking lack of awareness of how those practical implications were playing out in real time.”
Eastman, a longtime member of the conservative Federalist Society and a law professor, confirmed the email exchange, the report said, but he denied that he was blaming Pence for the violence at the Capitol. He said Trump and his allies were right to explore “every legal means” to challenge the results over concerns of election fraud and irregularities and asked, “Are you supposed to not do anything about that?”
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Eastman also said the email was in response to Jacob saying that his “bulls***” legal advice was the reason why Pence’s team was “under siege.” He said Jacob later apologized, but a familiar source told the news outlet that the Pence aide apologized for using profanity but views Eastman’s advice as “snake oil.”
The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riot is reportedly expected to subpoena Eastman, who spoke at the same rally Trump did the day of the siege. The lawyer recently distanced himself from the scenarios outlined in his memos during a National Review interview.
