WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump knew that asking Vice President Mike Pence to unilaterally overturn the 2020 presidential election was illegal but pressured him to do it anyway, the House committee investigating Jan. 6, 2021, argued at its Thursday hearing, where it also made the case that Trump put Pence’s life in danger during the Capitol insurrection.
The committee outlined a multiweek effort by then-President Trump and California attorney John Eastman that included private meetings and tweets aimed at pressuring Pence to help keep Trump in office. Eastman’s theory was that Pence could either reject electoral votes outright or suspend the proceedings and declare a 10-day recess during which state legislatures would be ordered to reexamine election results.
Neither approach is allowed under the Constitution’s 12th Amendment or the Electoral Count Act of 1887, witnesses testified at the hearing.
