By now, our astute members and readers are familiar with the damning evidence that has been slowly and methodically revealed about the planning and execution of the Jan 6 insurrection against the government of the United States. There are many diaries that cover these revelations and summarize the Jan 6 committee hearings this week.
Yesterday’s hearings, with testimonies from Pence’s former counsel Greg Jacob and from Judge Luttig, firmly established that “Trump waged a public and private pressure campaign to get Mike Pence to follow John Eastman’s plan to overturn the election during the certification. This campaign was waged in person, over the phone, and on twitter” - www.rawstory.com/...
This diary focuses on a set of email exchanges that took place between Jacob and trump lawyer John Eastman on Jan 6; most of them took place while Jacob was inside the Capitol, as it was being attacked by the frenzied mob, let loose by trump and his republican allies.
The full document with the email exchanges is at storage.courtlistener.com/….
I suspect that the timestamp on the emails from Eastman are in MST, hence some of the emails seem to be out-of-order. Also, it is not clear whether this is just a subset of the emails in that email thread.
This is the email the night before, which shows that the “plan” for Pence to adjourn Congress had been set in motion, in cahoots with the PA legislature.
Jan 6 morning — this looks like it is in reply to some intermediate email from Eastman, pushing back at the illegal arguments from Eastman.
This is bizarre and highlights the right-wing ideology that permeates republican circles — that the law does not apply to them, that they can willfully put a knee on the law — because the republican party is “at war”, at war with the American public that conducted a peaceful election whose outcome is unacceptable to trump and the republican party.
The following email is at 12:14 p.m. ET, while the insurrectionist were gathering at the gates. Jacob is clearly frustrated at Eastman’s repeated suggestions to skirt the law, Eastman calling Jacob “small-minded” and he also makes it clear that the siege is a result of Eastman’s and trump’s rhetoric and actions. He also mentions Judge Luttig, who also advised Pence that the scheme was illegal and unconstitutional.
Jacob refers to the siege at 12:14 p.m. ET, while trump was giving his incendiary speech and the rioters were not quite storming the Capitol yet. Jacob and Eastman knew what was coming.
Mind you, Jacob is as conservative as they get, he ain’t no liberal and he takes his shot at Democrats in the email.
Eastman angrily reacts to the “bullshit” word with some bizarre ranting at 2:25 p.m., blaming Jacob and Pence for the insurrection. Again arguing that the law and the ECA do not matter, because “the election was stolen” according to trump, citing non-existent evidence. He (and trump) was justifying the “siege” instead of taking steps to prevent the mayhem and violence.
Jacob responds with this longer email, probably while the insurrectionists were pushing through the Capitol grounds. He was quite worried about his safety and had no illusions about the nature of the mob.
Jacob makes it quite clear that Eastman’s scheme was illegal and the insurrection and the ”whipping large numbers of people into frenzy” was a direct result of Eastman’s, republican surrogates (and by linkage trump’s) actions.
Eastman still at it during the storming of the Capitol —
Jacob asking whether trump knew that the scheme is illegal, even though he had been pushing it publicly.
This is at 11:44 p.m. EST. Eastman making one more attempt to force Jacob and Pence into doing his (trump’s) bidding, using some twisted juvenile arguments that the House and Senate violated the ECA by accommodating republican requests, therefore it is OK to make one more violation. Eastman is also acknowledging that the adjournment request is in violation of the law.
Jacob showed the email to Pence two days later, to which Pence responded “That’ rubber room stuff”, meaning that it was "certifiably crazy."
What did trump know and when did he know it? Quite definitely, trump was not just aware of this, he was calling the shots; these actions would not have taken place without his orders.
FYI, at 2:24 p.m. ET, Trump tweeted : "Mike Pence didn't have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution." He continued with more baseless claims about election fraud, words that Eastman was parroting all day.
This is also a call to all of us to defeat these enemies of Democracy. The traitors must be exposed and justice must prevail.
So, let’s do our part in educating the electorate about Jan 6 and the coterie of criminals the GOP has become. Let’s make sure that we implicate all the leaders of the republican party as co-conspirators in this insurrection. We must also make it clear to the American public that the entire republican party is rotten to the core; voting for them will mean an end to American Democracy and will be the beginning of a dystopian future.
Let’s keep writing and talking about the Jan 6 insurrection and the hearings day after day. Let’s not let it slide out of our collective conscience. If we feel dismayed or dejected at Biden or Schumer or Garland or other Democrats, for whatever reason, then let’s turn that frustration into action. Let’s lend them a hand, let’s do our part. Let’s write about the issues on social media, discuss them with friends and family, and spread the message; let’s neutralize the negative reporting of the right-wing disinformation machine. Let’s support each other and amplify the voices of reason and wisdom. Let’s volunteer and join a local progressive group. Let’s donate what we can. Let’s rise and make a difference. We will feel better and history will thank us.
The November elections are coming and we have to win the House and Senate. Let’s keep encouraging and inspiring people to Get Out and Vote.