The document that Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) was handed Jan. 2 was not subtle. In two pages, it outlined a four-step plan for Donald Trump to retain the presidency despite having lost the 2020 election — in other words, for Trump to steal a second term in office.
“7 states have transmitted dual slates of electors to the President of the Senate,” it began, a statement from which everything else followed — and which was not true, as Lee knew. Written by an attorney named John Eastman, the document made a number of other dubious assertions, more importantly that the rules governing the counting of electoral votes Jan. 6 were probably unconstitutional and that Vice President Mike Pence could unilaterally throw out the electoral votes cast in those seven states. Should he do so, “Pence then gavels President Trump as reelected.”
