John Eastman Blamed Pence for Violence at Jan. 6 Riot

WASHINGTON — As a mob was attacking the Capitol chanting “Hang Mike Pence,” a lawyer who plotted with President Donald J. Trump and his allies to effort to overturn the 2020 predetermination sent a hostile connection to the vice president’s apical lawyer, blaming Mr. Pence for the violence.

The email, reported by The Washington Post and confirmed by a idiosyncratic briefed connected its contents, shows the grade to which Mr. Trump and his advisers sought to unit the vice president, who was presiding implicit the certification of the election, to defy the volition of the voters and support Mr. Trump successful office.

“The ‘siege’ is due to the fact that YOU and your brag did not bash what was indispensable to let this to beryllium aired successful a nationalist mode truthful that the American radical tin spot for themselves what happened,” the lawyer, John Eastman, wrote to Greg Jacob, Mr. Pence’s main counsel.

Mr. Pence and Mr. Jacob were successful a unafraid country astatine the Capitol erstwhile Mr. Eastman sent the message, The Post said. Outside, rioters were storming the building wherever Congress was gathering to certify Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s election, erecting a gallows, hunting for Speaker Nancy Pelosi and forcing lawmakers to evacuate successful a country of unit and mayhem. Police officers recovered guns, knives, Tasers, Molotov cocktails, explosive devices and zip ties successful the area.

Mr. Eastman roseate wrong Mr. Trump’s ineligible ellipse successful 2020 from a little-known blimpish world to 1 of the astir influential voices successful the president’s ear, penning a memo laying retired steps helium argued Mr. Pence could instrumentality to support Mr. Trump successful powerfulness — measures Democrats and anti-Trump Republicans have likened to a blueprint for a coup.

The two-page memo written by Mr. Eastman and circulated to the White House successful the days earlier the certification was revealed successful the publication “Peril” by the Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Robert Costa. In the memo, Mr. Eastman argued that arsenic vice president, Mr. Pence was “the eventual arbiter” of the election, fundamentally saying helium had the powerfulness to find who won, and that “we should instrumentality each of our actions with that successful mind.”

That presumption was rejected by Mr. Pence and his lawyers arsenic amerciable and unethical.

Since his memo was made public, Mr. Eastman has sought to region himself from its contents, arguing that the papers was taken retired of context. He told National Review that the strategy was not “viable” and would person been “crazy” to pursue.

But the email to Mr. Jacob undercuts those comments. Mr. Jacob wrote in a draught sentiment article that Mr. Eastman showed “a shocking deficiency of awareness” arsenic “a set of thugs who had been sold the prevarication that the vice president had the powerfulness to reverse the result of the election” stormed the Capitol.

“Vice President Pence rejected the spurious ineligible theories that were pitched to him, and helium did his duty,” Mr. Jacob wrote. “An enquiry should beryllium made into whether the president’s extracurricular lawyers did theirs.”

Through a spokesman, Mr. Eastman declined to comment.

The wide activistic Lauren Windsor precocious recorded Mr. Eastman calling Mr. Pence an “establishment guy” and lasting by the contents of his memo. “These guys are spineless,” he said of lawmakers who refused to articulation his plan to overturn the predetermination based connected mendacious claims of wide elector fraud.

Trump’s Bid to Subvert the Election

In the Oval Office the time earlier Congress’s electoral ballot certification, Mr. Trump pushed Mr. Pence to articulation the crippled successful a drawstring of encounters, including 1 gathering that lasted astatine slightest an hour. Mr. Eastman was successful the bureau and argued to Mr. Pence that helium had the powerfulness to act.

Just earlier Mr. Pence headed to the Capitol connected Jan. 6, Mr. Trump called the vice president’s residence to propulsion 1 past time.

“You tin either spell down successful past arsenic a patriot,” Mr. Trump told him, according to 2 radical briefed connected the conversation, “or you tin spell down successful past arsenic a pussy.”

Mr. Eastman spoke astatine the rally that preceded the Capitol battle and pushed baseless claims of wide elector fraud. As outrage grew successful the days aft the riot, helium abruptly retired from his job arsenic an endowed prof and law instrumentality student astatine Chapman University.

The House committee investigating the onslaught has demanded that the White House crook implicit documents and communications concerning Mr. Eastman. Investigators besides program to inquire him, potentially nether subpoena, to beryllium for an interrogation arsenic they scrutinize the circumstances surrounding the largest battle connected the Capitol since the War of 1812. About 140 officers were injured successful the violence, which claimed respective lives.

Maggie Haberman and Michael S. Schmidt contributed reporting.