MAGA lawyer John Eastman, Claremont Institute fellow and author of the Electoral College count coup memo presented to Mike Pence in the days before January 6th has pleaded his Fifth Amendment right to avoid self-incrimination in a letter to the Capitol riot committee after skipping out on testifying, Politico reports. Citing some pretty cunty excuses like “the lack of true minority representation combined with your decision to take testimony in secret proceedings creates an extreme risk of gross unfairness to the subjects of your investigation” in the letter from his attorney, Eastman weasels away from the consequences for attempting to destroy democracy – for now.
In a White House meeting the day before the attack, Eastman briefed Pence and Donald Trump on his much-ridiculed legal theory that the Vice President can unilaterally reject the certified electors from any state, a move Eastman claimed would allow Pence to reject Electoral College electors from swing states, which would give those states’ Republican legislature to assign Trump-friendly electors – to “Howls, of course, from the Democrats”, as Eastman wrote.