Filing in Trump case details remarkable schism with Pence over rejecting 2020 election loss
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Trump, Pence, John Eastman, Marc Short, and Greg Jacob met in the Oval Office. Jacob testified that Eastman acknowledged both proposed paths—rejecting electoral votes or delaying the count—conflicted with the Electoral Count Act. Trump nevertheless continued pressing Pence. The illegality assessment came from Pence's counsel and was acknowledged by the plan's author before the requested act.
Pence's contemporaneous notes from the January 4 White House meeting, the plan presented, and Pence's responseTrump presses Pence in an Oval Office meeting after Eastman concedes statutory violations · Pence rejected the proposal; Congress later counted the certified votes
- factdocumented
By January 5, Pence had repeatedly told Trump that the vice president lacked authority to change the election result and had only a ministerial role in the count. Conservative former judge Michael Luttig and every White House lawyer identified in the committee record agreed. Trump therefore had repeated notice of the constitutional and statutory objection before his public pressure intensified.
December 25 through January 5 refusals, ministerial-role dispute, and continuing Trump pressurePence repeatedly tells Trump the vice president lacks unilateral election power · Position carried into Pence's January 6 public letter