There’s a wise saying in the bible of life – I’m referring, of course, to The Godfather – and it goes like this: “A lawyer with his briefcase can steal more than a hundred men with guns.”
Case in point, John Eastman. Somebody somewhere (hello Justice Department!) needs to indict this “constitutional lawyer” for violating the federal criminal code – to wit, 18 U.S. 2833, which specifies that whoever “assists, or engages in any rebellion or insurrection against the authority of the United States or the laws thereof, or gives aid or comfort thereto, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both.”
I mean, how hard should that be? We now have documented proof that this MAGA fraud with a briefcase crafted an instructional manual for stealing democracy. Sort of a fascist overthrow for dummies.
To really appreciate how close we came last January to losing the whole American experiment, you should read the advice that Eastman concocted for Mike Pence, who was poised on Jan. 6 to do his ceremonial duty and announce Joe Biden’s electoral victory. If you don’t have the stomach for it, this summary should suffice:
Eastman wrote that Pence could simply throw out the Electoral College votes of seven specific states, thereby reducing the tally to 232-222. Pence could then announce that since no candidate had reached the magic 270, the election would then be decided by the House of Representatives, where each state would get one vote, and since the GOP controlled 26 of the 50 state delegations, presto, Trump would win the election.
But could Pence really do such a thing? Simply toss seven states’ EVs into the trash? Eastman said yup: “The fact is that the Constitution assigns this power to the Vice President as the ultimate arbiter.” Indeed, “Pence should do this without asking for permission.” Well now. Perhaps they taught it that way at Trump University, but in truth there is no such provision in the Constitution. Pence’s authority began and ended with counting the votes – as he quickly confirmed when he sought advice outside Trump’s Orwellian orbit.
Beyond the fact that the coup memo is the smoking gun (Trump to Pence, reportedly on Jan. 4: “You really need to listen to John. He’s a respected constitutional scholar”), beyond the fact that Eastman also used his purported authority as a lawyer-academic to feed lies to the insurrectionist goons (he spoke at the Jan. 6 rally, babbling about Democratic “ballots in a secret folder in the machines”), what’s arguably most disturbing is that nobody in authority is holding him accountable.
He’s still a member in good standing of the right-wing Federalist Society and a featured speaker at various soirees. Next month, he’s on tap to address the American Political Science Association; his topic (get this): “The 2020 Elections and the State of American Conservatism.” But if people like him are allowed to roam free without consequences, taking full advantage of our quintessentially American amnesia, it encourages the conspirators to plot anew. As election expert Rich Hasen recently wrote, “United States democracy is under the greatest threat of attack since the Civil War, and the threat to free and fair elections is only increasing in this country because of people like Eastman.”
Yes, some good stuff is happening – the GOP’s Arizona “audit” turns out to be a joke; Congress’ Jan. 6 inquiry is sending subpoenas to various coup abetters and seeking all communications between Eastman and other Trump officials – but the existential threat is ongoing. The plotters are playing the long game, and they have piles of kindling to set ablaze, with right-wing “media” fanning the flames.
So. Are we truly up to the challenge of holding people like Eastman accountable – and defending democracy no matter what it takes? I’ll close with this cautionary tweet from military historian Thomas E. Ricks:
“When I was writing about Churchill and Orwell, I would wonder why everyone sat back and just let the 1930s happen. Having experienced the last 6 or so years in the U.S., I no longer wonder.”