'Lawless' Elise Stefanik ​disqualified herself from being V.P.: Mike Pence's ex-lawyer

Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) openly endorsed the 2020 plot to block certification of the election in recent interviews — and it has left Gregory F. Jacob, the counsel to former Vice President Mike Pence, disgusted.

Stefanik, who has chaired the House Republican Conference ever since GOP lawmakers ousted former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) from that role over her criticism of former President Donald Trump, is now rumored to be a shortlister for Trump's 2024 vice presidential running mate. But Jacob, who knew her when he worked on the White House Domestic Policy Council, sees this as totally disqualifying for that role.

"When she first ran for Congress, in 2014, she was a thoughtful, principled conservative determined to champion the interests of her left-behind upstate New York district. I enthusiastically contributed to her campaign," wrote Jacob. "But now she says she would have done something no vice president has ever done or claimed the authority to do. She would have attempted to exercise a power the Constitution doesn’t grant to swing a presidential election to her preferred candidate. No one who espouses such lawless views should hold a position of authority."

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Stefanik doesn't even realize the fire she is playing with, Jacob continued, because if she is on Trump's ticket as vice president, her theory would hold that Vice President Kamala Harris could block her own election from being certified. "Particularly if Ms. Stefanik is on the ticket, these Democrats would be delighted to throw her words back in her face as they exercise their raw political will — cloaked in the rhetoric of defending the Constitution from an 'insurrectionist' — to invalidate Trump electors," he wrote.

The GOP faces a crucial crossroads, concluded Jacob — and members like Stefanik are leading the whole party down a dangerous path.

"Because the Constitution’s checks and constraints on government power are crucial to protecting individual liberty," he wrote. "If Republicans ignore those limits in pursuing our political ends, citizens will rightly conclude there is no difference between the two parties. If we yield to the temptation of unconstrained power, Republicans will lose ourselves — and Americans will be at risk of losing our republic."