'Constitutional scholar' John Eastman will plead the Fifth before Jan. 6 Select Committee
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Coup-plotter John Eastman will join fellow Trump attorney Jeffrey Clark as the second witness called by the House Select Committee on Jan. 6 to seek the protection of the Fifth Amendment. In a letter to committee chair Rep. Bennie Thompson, Eastman’s attor'Constitutional scholar' John Eastman will plead the Fifth before Jan. 6 Select Committee
Coup-plotter John Eastman will join fellow Trump attorney Jeffrey Clark as the second witness called by the House Select Committee on Jan. 6 to seek the protection of the Fifth Amendment. In a letter to committee chair Rep. Bennie Thompson, Eastman’s attorney states that he is writing to inform the committee that, “Dr. Eastman hereby asserts his Fifth Amendment right not to be a witness against himself.” That’s because, as the letter notes, Eastman faces potential criminal prosecution for his role in the events leading up to the Jan. 6 insurrection. In particular, Eastman was the author of the scheme in which Mike Pence could declare Donald Trump the “winner” of the 2020 election through the expeditious route of simply refusing to count states that voted for President Joe Biden. Eastman explained his plan to Pence and Trump in a White House meeting on Jan. 4, where Pence faced hard pressure to cooperate. Eastman is also known to have texted Pence’s staff multiple times in an attempt to push his scheme. That includes texts sent as the insurrection was underway, blaming Pence for the violence caused by people who wanted to hang him. While it took just a sentence to make clear that Eastman was refusing to appear, the letter actually goes on for 10 pages, lecturing the committee about House rules with accuracy that’s just as poor as Eastman’s knowledge of the Constitution. Read more