NYT: DOJ Probes Trump Lawyers Over Fake Elector Scheme

WASHINGTON, USA - JANUARY 06: Flanked by Trump lawyer John Eastman, Rudy Giuliani, personal lawyer to U.S. President Donald Trump, speaks during a "Save America Rally" near the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., ... WASHINGTON, USA - JANUARY 06: Flanked by Trump lawyer John Eastman, Rudy Giuliani, personal lawyer to U.S. President Donald Trump, speaks during a "Save America Rally" near the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021. The House and Senate will meet in a joint session today to count the Electoral College votes to confirm President-elect Joe Biden's victory, but not before a sizable group of Republican lawmakers object to the counting of several states' electors. (Photo by Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images) MORE LESS
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Federal prosecutors are investigating the Trump attorneys who worked on the plan to send alternate slates of electors to Congress for Jan. 6, the New York Times reports.

A D.C. federal grand jury has issued multiple subpoenas, the newspaper reported, asking for information about attorneys who developed the plan, which called for pro-Trump electors in states that Trump lost to sign certificates.

Those reportedly named in the subpoenas include Rudy Giuliani, Trump attorney John Eastman, and Ken Chesebro. TPM profiled Chesebro on Thursday; the Trump lawyer, who, according to memos released by the Times, appears to have come up with the plan for alternate slates of electors, had avoided the press before TPM’s exclusive interview.

Chesebro authored a November 2020 memo earlier reported by the Times which laid out the scheme, including a plan for pro-Trump electors to sign certificates in states that Trump lost. Eastman and others planned for state legislatures to certify those certificates so that Vice President Mike Pence could approve the non-Biden votes as “legitimate.”

That plan, Pence’s attorneys and White House counsel told the Jan. 6 panel, could have resulted in mayhem and violence in the streets.

In a committee hearing Thursday, witnesses laid out the way in which the plan evolved into the fulcrum around which much of the violence on Jan. 6 turned — rioters purportedly grew more aggressive after they learned that Pence would not go along with the plan.

The Times story does not specify who or what entities received the subpoenas asking for information about the attorneys. Jenna Ellis, another Trump attorney, is also reportedly named.

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Notable Replies

  1. 18 months later, almost to the day, that seven different chief judges of seven district courts received copies of the alternafraud vote submissions, mailed them by the perps themselves, via registered mail, no less.

  2. About damned time. I hope that DOJ doesn’t assign to Jeffery Clark.

    Nice framing too:

    "Eastman and others planned for state legislatures to certify those certificates so that Vice President Mike Pence could approve the non-Biden votes as “legitimate.”

    Instead of admitting that they were trying to portray the citizens’ actual votes as illegitimate.

  3. The rot runs very, very deep. The rot begins with the head of the snake, i.e. Donald J. Trump, and runs to his lawyers, supporters, apologists, and allies. The rot needs to be exposed and removed.

  4. Hang 'em High ! Traitors and scofflaws ALL !!

  5. I admit I was skeptical about the potential impact of these hearings at first but, as they have proceeded, I’ve become increasingly convinced that a lot of people will go to jail as a result of them. The absolute proof that many of the people involved, including Trump, are guilty as hell is so overwhelming even our current SCOTUS would likely be unable to acquit them.

Continue the discussion at forums.talkingpointsmemo.com

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