Emails reveal Judge Thomas was Trump’s ‘only chance’ to stop the 2020 election

Eight emails including correspondence between Trump lawyers Kenneth Chesebro, John Eastman and others became public Wednesday via a Dropbox link attached to public court documents.

The emails reveal Trump’s attorneys crafting a scheme in which they appeared to believe U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas would agree to block certification of the 2020 presidential election results, even if just temporarily, to allow the public to doubt the results were legitimate.

Watch below to hear CNN legal analyst Norm Eisen break down the implications of the newly public emails:

Overturning Biden's win required delaying the Jan. 6 congressional certification, and it's clear from the emails that Eastman and other Trump lawyers viewed Thomas as a likely ally. Eastman clerked for Thomas and was in contact with his wife, Ginni Thomas, as she was pushing to overturn Biden's victory. But Justice Thomas also handles emergency Supreme Court appeals from Georgia, and Trump lawyer Kenneth Chesebro focused on that power in a series of Dec. 31, 2020, emails.

"We want to frame things so that Thomas could be the one to issue some sort of stay or other circuit justice opinion saying Georgia is in legitimate doubt," Chesebro wrote other members of Trump's legal team. "Realistically, our only chance to get a favorable judicial opinion by Jan. 6, which might hold up the Georgia count in Congress, is from Thomas."

Eastman responded to the email agreeing with the plan. Their emails further discussed filing a lawsuit that they hoped would result in an order that "TENTATIVELY" held that Biden's electoral votes from Georgia were not valid due to election fraud, CNN reported.

At least one email included correspondence between Eastman and Clarence Thomas' wife Ginni Thomas inviting Eastman to speak on Dec. 8, 2020, to a group of conservative activists to provide an update about election litigation, according to the Washington Post.

Ginni Thomas also lobbied state legislators in Arizona and Wisconsin via email, urging them to help overturn Biden's victory.

Following the release of the emails, legal experts raised concerns about Thomas' role on the Supreme Court and criticized him for not recusing himself from matters related to his wife's efforts to overturn the election.