Who wants to talk about Mike Pence for two hours? Wait, come back, this is important!
No one is more appalled than we are at having to be grateful to the former vice president for saving democracy. And yet … here we are. Pence resisted tremendous pressure from the president and his wackass allies to ratfuck the Electoral College. He refused to get in the car so that the Secret Service could evacuate him during the siege of the Capitol, insisting that he had to finish the certification that night come hell or high water. And he did so knowing that it would make him a pariah within his own party and ruin his political prospects.
Today’s hearing will center on the pressure campaign to get Pence to go along with John Eastman’s coup plot to overturn Biden’s Electoral College victory by having Pence reject swing state electors. The contours of Eastman’s plan fluctuated over time. In early December, he suggested that legislators meeting to certify the “alternate” slates of Trump electors was a condition-precedent for Pence to reject the Biden slates. By January, when that hadn’t happened, Eastman switched to arguing that Pence could unilaterally toss out electoral votes at will, thus reducing the denominator and allowing Trump to win with fewer than 270 votes. Or, in the alternative, Pence could say that there was sufficient evidence of fraud in the swing states to allow him to pause the Electoral College certification for 10 days, allowing time for the swing state legislators to meet and “certify” Trump electoral slates.
US District Judge David Carter has characterized this plan to obstruct an official congressional proceeding as likely criminal, forcing Eastman to disclose some emails and communications with Trump under the crime-fraud exception to attorney-client privilege. And this opinion was shared by many, many people in the White House and beyond.
Here’s testimony by White House attorney Eric Herschmann, a former partner at Kasowitz Benson Torres who represented Trump in the first impeachment hearing, recounting telling Eastman, “I’m going to give you the best free legal advice you’re ever getting in your life: Get a great f’ing criminal defense lawyer. You’re going to need it.”
Herschmann is kind of a bomb thrower. Axios reported a hilarious episode where he managed to turn Sidney Powell and Rudy Giuliani against each other, saying to Powell, “Why don’t you repeat to Rudy what you just told the president in the Oval Office — that he has no idea about the case and that he only just began to understand it a few hours ago.” LOL.
And, yes, we appreciate that this is at least 50 percent a self-serving effort by lawyers like Bill Barr and Pat Cipollone to differentiate themselves from the Elite Super Friends JD Esquire Green Beret Motion For Stay Task Force Derp Squad. But it does make for good TV!
In addition to video clips from Herschmann and Pence’s chief of staff Marc Short, we’ll hear from Pence’s chief legal advisor Greg Jacob and retired conservative Judge J. Michael Luttig. Read Jacob’s statement here, via Politico, and Judge Luttig’s statement here, via CNN. Jacob and Short played a primary role in fending off Eastman, Giuliani, and Trump, while Luttig convinced Pence that Eastman’s plans were totally illegal, not to mention batshit insane.
The questioning will be led by Rep. Pete Aguilar, aided by John Wood, the committee’s senior investigative counsel.
Catch up on Day One and Day Two at the links. And if you’re up for a bit a day drinking (and who isn’t these days?) play along with our pals (read: my other editor) at Above the Law, who has posted a fun drinking game for these hearings.
LFG!
WATCH LIVE: Jan. 6 Committee hearings – Day 3
www.youtube.com
1:00 Judge Luttig and Greg Jacob got swarmed by the cameras and have now taken their seats. Committee is filing in.
1:06 Chair Thompson said “There is no idea more unamerican than the notion that any one person could choose the American.” That’s a quote from former vice president Mike Pence, with whom, Thompson says, he usually does not agree.
Thompson praises Pence for resisting pressure by Trump to overturn the election, praises his courage.
“Our democracy came dangerously close to catastrophe. That courage put him in tremendous danger,” Thompson says, adding that the danger hasn’t receded.
Turns the gavel over to Liz Cheney.
1:10 Cheney reminds the audience that during the last hearing, the committee presented evidence from Trump’s own appointees that Trump knew damn well he hadn’t won the election, that there was no fraud, that it was all a Big Lie.
Cheney stresses two points: Trump was told repeatedly that there was no legal authority for Pence to unilaterally reject electoral votes; and, Trump did it anyway, conspiring with Eastman to commit the crime of obstruction of congress.
1:11 Cheney says, “today we focus on the earnest efforts of Mike Pence.” Man, if you had told us two years ago that we’d be stanning for Liz Cheney and Mike freakin’ Pence …
1:14 Pete Aguilar is recognized for an opening statement. He’s shitting on Trump for “latching on to a dangerous theory and would not let go because he was convinced it would keep him in power.”
Now we’re getting video of Trump whipping up the crowd against Pence, followed by the crowd threatening to “drag motherfuckers through the streets” if “Pence caved.”
Now chants of “Bring out Pence!” and “Hang Mike Pence!”
1:17 Thompson introduces Judge Luttig, who served in the Reagan administration and was appointed to the bench by President George H.W. Bush. John Eastman (and Ted Cruz) both clerked for Luttig, who has said they are gross and full of shit.
And now Luttig and Greg Jacob, Pence’s former COS, are sworn in.
1:19 Huh, Thompson is recognizing himself for questions, not letting them make their opening statements. Okay.
Anyway, this would fall into the category of “more of a comment than a question.” TLDR, President Crimetime is SHIT and John Eastman is SHIT. LOCK THEM UP.
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