GOP senator sidesteps after being asked about Jan. 6 implication during John Eastman trial

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) sidestepped a question about his talks with Donald Trump's allies about a possible departure from constitutional requirements on Jan. 6, 2021.

Conservative lawyer John Eastman was asked during a California disbarment trial about an email he sent Dec. 23, 2020, hinting that Grassley, then the Senate president pro tempore, might play a role in the congressional certification of Joe Biden's election win, but he testified that his discussions on that topic were protected by attorney-client privilege.

"President Trump," Eastman said, when asked who his client had been.

Grassley caused a stir on Jan. 5, 2021, when he suggested that he would preside over the certification of electoral votes, rather than then-vice president Mike Pence, saying "we don't expect him to be there."

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Pence, as president over the Senate at the time, was authorized to lead the joint session of Congress, although at times in the past the job has fallen to the Senate president pro tempore -- typically the most senior senator in the majority, as Grassley was at the time.

"“We were talking about presiding over the Senate, but a lot of people get that mixed up with some idea that I was going to preside over the joint session,” Grassley said Thursday, when asked about Eastman's testimony and his previous remarks, “and you know that's not what I ever intended to do.“