Conservative busts Mike Lee for lying to Bob Woodward about when he learned of Eastman's coup plot

On Friday, former Ted Cruz communications official Amanda Carpenter argued that newly released text messages prove Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) was not telling the truth when he told reporter Bob Woodward that he first learned of the plot by right-wing lawyer John Eastman to overturn the 2020 presidential election on January 2.

In one of the texts from Lee to then-White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows on November 23, noted Carpenter, Lee said that "John Eastman has some really interesting research on this," and on December 8, Lee said, "If a very small handful of states were to have their legislatures appoint alternative slates of delegates, there could be a path."

This "alternative electors" ploy was the crux of Eastman's plan, outlined in an infamous confidential memo to the Trump team. Former Vice President Mike Pence would then use these fake electors as grounds to overturn the real electors, leaving so many states unrepresented in the Electoral College that no one had a majority, and throwing the presidential election to the House of Representatives, where Republicans had enough state delegations to declare Trump the winner.

Experts broadly considered this plan illegal, including Pence himself.

The text messages, revealed this week, show that Lee also begged the White House for talking points on the status of the election, and that he and Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) lobbied to connect Trump to Sidney Powell, the conspiracy theorist attorney facing defamation lawsuits and an ethics investigation by the Texas State Bar for her efforts to overturn the election.

NOW WATCH: 'Very painful blow': Former Putin adviser explains why Moskva flagship was vitally important to Russia

Former Putin adviser explains why Moskva flagship was vitally important to Russiawww.youtube.com