WASHINGTON — Two Republican Texas congressmen — Brian Babin of Woodville and Louie Gohmert of Tyler — participated in a December 2020 White House discussion about whether former Vice President Mike Pence could reject former President Donald Trump’s 2020 reelection loss, the U.S. House Committee investigating the attack on the U.S. Capitol revealed Tuesday.
But it wasn’t immediately clear how Babin or Gohmert participated. The revelation, based on White House visitor logs, came during the seventh meeting of the committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection during which Trump supporters sought to stop Pence and Congress from certifying President Joe Biden’s election win. Babin and Gohmert did not immediately respond Tuesday to requests for comment about the meeting.
Democratic U.S. Rep. Stephanie Murphy of Florida, a committee member who helped lead Tuesday’s hearing, said the Dec. 21, 2020, meeting included discussion of Trump adviser John Eastman’s attempt to overturn the former president’s election loss. Eastman authored a memo that outlined the steps for Pence to take to overturn the 2020 election results by rejecting some of Biden’s Electoral College votes. But on Jan. 6, 2020, Pence went against Eastman and Trump and certified Biden’s win — after people storming the Capitol caused a delay.
