Jan. 6 hearing will prove ‘fake elector’ scheme was illegal — and show Trump was directly involved

The House Select Committee will demonstrate at its next hearing that a scheme to send alternate electors to Congress was illegal, and former president Donald Trump was directly involved in planning and executing the plan.

Committee aides told reporters that Tuesday afternoon's hearing, which starts at 1 p.m. EST, would highlight evidence that Trump was directly aware of the fake electors scheme and was actively involved in carrying it out, and the hearing led by Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) would also show the ex-president and his inner circle knew the plan was unlawful, reported Politico.

“John - what would you think of producing a legal memo outlining the constitutional role of state legislators in designating electors?” wrote Trump attorney Cleta Mitchell to conservative attorney John Eastman on Nov. 5, 2020. “Rather than governors, the US Constitution vests that responsibility with state legislators. … why couldn’t legislatures reclaim that constitutional duty, and designate the electors - rather than delegating to governors.”

Eastman wrote a memo later that month that was forwarded to the Oval Office by Trump campaign attorney Jenna Ellis, according to documents reviewed by the select committee, and Eastman began consulting directly with state legislators to pursue the scheme -- and he urged some to simply retabulate their vote totals to show Trump won.

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“A reasonable argument might further be made that when resolving a dispute between competing electoral slates, Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution places a firm thumb on the scale on the side of the State legislature,” Eastman wrote in one memo.

However, Eastman himself admitted in emails seen by the select committee that his plan would be "dead on arrival" unless state legislatures backed it, and Trump's own White House counsel raised doubts about the scheme and Vice President Mike Pence's chief counsel Greg Jacob told Eastman no Supreme Court justices would support the plan, to which Eastman reluctantly agreed.