Talking Points Memo published an analysis of a collection of previously unseen documents detailing how a group of conservative lawyers planned to keep Trump in power after he lost the 2020 election.
Key player
The documents represent a selection of communications between Ken Chesebro and other Trump allies. Chesebro was one of the lawyers central to the attempts to keep Trump in power but has since been cooperating with authorities investigating those attempts.
Extreme attempt
In short, Chesebro provided Trump and his allies with “procedurally and substantively radical ideas which would allow the President to exert maximum leverage on any body or person in the country that might conceivably have the power to keep him in office,” TPM explained.
The man in question
Chesebro wasn’t uneducated or crazy. He graduated from Harvard Law and had an impressive legal career, working with other Harvard Law graduates and professors.
Endless chaos
One of the plans cooked up by Chesebro and other Trump lawyers was to extend the Jan 6 riot until Jan 20, which is the deadline the Constitution sets for the transfer of power.
The plan
The chaos would then provide Trump allies in Congress and the Supreme Court time to implement other procedures to ensure Joe Biden — the winner of the 2020 election — would not be able to take office.
Drawing things out
One roadblock was the Electoral Count Act, which limits the time lawmakers can debate electoral votes to two hours per chamber. Even if the six contested states were challenged in both chambers, that would only lead to a delay of 24 hours.
Dispense with the rules
However, Trump lawyers discussed the possibility of suspending or even discarding the Electoral Count Act. According to TPM, this would then give Republicans in Congress the power to delay the certification of the election with repeated claims of fraud.
Playing dumb
By playing dumb and repeatedly bringing up new questions and claims, Republicans could effectively delay the certification indefinitely — or at least until Jan 20. Ultimately, the chaos would have forced the Supreme Court to get involved.
Stepping in
With Congress rendered unable to certify the election due to Republican meddling, the Supreme Court would step in as a “deus ex machina,” TPM explained. In an atmosphere of chaos and endless questions of fraud, the conservative court would decide the results of the election, hopefully choosing a Trump — or, at the very least, Republican — victory.
Bizarre consequences
One of the potential consequences of this plan for preventing the certification of the election included the ascension of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to the position of “acting president.” In another scenario, the Senate could have elected Mike Pence instead of Trump.
Other options
Another potential way to delay the certification of the election was for Mike Pence to decline to open the contested Biden electoral votes. Chesebro called this a “fairly boss move” in one email. This is the option Trump ended up pursuing.
Backup plan
A more risky plan Chesebro conceived involved Senator Chuck Grassley taking Pence’s place presiding over the Senate. He would then follow the steps Pence was meant to follow, and also “file a lawsuit seeking to invalidate the [Electoral Count] Act as soon as Dems assert the House and Senate do the counting,” Chesebro wrote in one text.
Potential allies
“At minimum lawsuit would buy time and rivet attention,” Chesebro explained. “I’d love to know if legal giants like [Senator Ted] Cruz and [Senator Mike] Lee would back that.”
Ultimate failure
In the end, the plans of Chesebro and other MAGA lawyers never came to fruition. Considering the damage caused by the Jan 6 riot — which left several dead and hundreds injured — it’s not hard to imagine how worse off the nation would be today if they had succeeded.
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