Trump's lawyer wrote 'bone-chilling' instructions for a coup – but you probably never heard about it: columnist

Writing in The Washington Post this Thursday, columnist Margaret Sullivan says there's a good chance you haven't heard of the Eastman memo, which -- according to her -- just goes to show how how lazy the mainstream press has become about the attempted coup on Jan. 6.

It also shows how easily a coup could succeed the next time around, she writes.

The Eastman memo, which was unearthed in Bob Woodward and Robert Costa's new book, was written by Trump legal adviser John Eastman — "a serious Establishment Type with Federalist Society cred and a law school deanship under his belt — it offered Mike Pence, then in his final days as vice president, a detailed plan to declare the 2020 election invalid and give the presidency to Trump," Sullivan writes, adding that it's basically a tutorial on how to run a coup in six easy steps.

Sullivan describes the memo as "an instruction manual for a coup."

She adds that "it's downright bone-chilling to think that this lawyer and legal scholar who was enough of an insider to have a speaking role at Trump's 'Stop the Steal' rally on Jan. 6, had gamed it out like this."

Several news outlets did cover the memo, including New York magazine, CNN, and the Washington Post, Sullivan notes. "But the news coverage wasn't nearly widespread or prominent enough to make 'the Eastman memo' a household name or to strike that legitimate fear into the hearts of citizens."

Read the full op-ed over at The Washington Post.