Eastman’s decision is an extraordinary assertion by someone who worked closely with Trump to attempt to overturn the 2020 election results. He met with Trump and pushed state legislative leaders to reject Biden’s victory in a handful of swing states and appoint alternate electors to the Electoral College, effectively denying Biden’s victory.
The former Chapman University law professor also pressured Pence, who is constitutionally required to preside over the Electoral College certification on Jan. 6, to unilterally refuse to count some of Biden’s electors and send the election to the full House for a vote — or delay long enough to give states a chance to submit new electors.
Eastman also spoke at Trump’s Jan. 6 rally alongside Rudy Giuliani.
Most of Burnham’s letter makes procedural objections to the structure of the Jan. 6 committee…
…Eastman, who’s also a senior fellow at the Claremont Institute, would be the second known Jan. 6 committee witness to plead the Fifth to avoid self-incrimination. The other, former DOJ official Jeffrey Clark, revealed his decision to the Jan. 6 panel on the same day Burnham sent his letter. After Clark’s last-minute decision, the committee scheduled a Saturday deposition to permit him to formally assert his Fifth Amendment rights and to discuss whether they accept it as a legitimate invocation.
Eastman may face similar questions.
