Speaker 1: Ah, right. We must. I feel compelled to look at yesterday's a very full day of January
6th. Trump Riot Insurrection Coup ANTI-democracy hearings held by the January 6th committee in the
House of Representatives. Yesterday was a day where we learned some very important things,
and we're going to go through them step by step. First and foremost,
one question that we've been asking about Trump world's view of the 2020 election
is do they really believe Joe Biden stole it? Or do they know Joe Biden won? But they just say it
to show that they are on the team. The sort of subsequent question to that is, did assuming Trump
really believed it or not? Either way, when Trump said Mike Pence has the power to send it back to
the states, overturn it, whatever, and write the Pence Eastman plan as it is become known.
Did Trump genuinely think that that's something Mike Pence could do? Or did he know that that's
not something Mike Pence could do? The maybe the biggest revelation from yesterday in the hearings
is that Greg Jacob, a former counsel to Mike Pence, told the committee, John Eastman,
the lawyer who wrote up the plan for what Pence could do to try to flip the election.
John Eastman said to Trump on January 4th, This plan is against the law. This is a critical,
critical piece of testimony. Take a look at this. Speaker 2: When exactly did President Trump
know that it would be illegal for Mike Pence to refuse to count electoral votes?
Speaker 1: Right. Speaker 2: Here is
one sample of testimony given by one of the witnesses before us today,
the vice president's general counsel. Speaker 3: Did John Eastman ever admit
or, as you know, in front of the president? Yet his proposal would violate the Electoral Count
Act. I believe he died on the fourth. Speaker 2: That was January 4th,
two days before the attack on Congress. Speaker 1: Okay. So we're building a timeline
here. All right. Trump retrospectively is saying Pence could have flipped it.
I believe Pence could have flipped. That would have been fine. You know,
I know because you watch this show and I know you know this and I know
Pence could not flip it. The John Eastman letter saying, here's how Pence flips. It was bogus.
Not something that Pence could actually do. Trump was told that on January 4th, which gets us to our
next piece of testimony. Jason Miller says to the January six committee that on January 5th, Donald
Trump dictated most of the letter, claiming that Mike Pence could flip the results. Trump was told
on the fourth, it's illegal. And on the fifth, Trump dictates a letter saying Pence can do it
already, knowing that it's against the law. Speaker 3: Did he dictate this statement?
We he dictated it. It kept in most of it. I mean,
typically on these typically on these, I might have a couple of wording suggestions or maybe I
have a sense or a rough framework or something of that. But I know with specifically on this
one that it was me and him on the phone talking through it. And ultimately the way this came out
was the way that he wanted to. Speaker 1: So January 4th, Trump
is told the plan for Pence to flip it is against the law. January 5th, Trump dictates a statement
saying Pence can flip it, even though he had already been told that he couldn't.
And then in this third clip, Congressman Aguilar points out that Trump released a statement that
he knew to be false on January 5th. That is exactly the point that we are making here.
And the committee was able to make the same point. Speaker 4: Even though the New York Times
story was indisputably correct, Donald Trump denied it. Trump issued a statement claiming
that the vice president had agreed that he could determine the outcome of the election,
despite the fact that the vice president had consistently rejected that position.
Let's look at what the president said in his statement. Quote The New York Times report
regarding comments Vice President Pence supposedly made to me today is fake news. He never said that.
The vice president and I are in total agreement that the Vice President has the power to act.
Mr. Jacob, how did the Vice President's team react to the statement from the President that the Vice
President could take an active role in determining the winner of the presidential election?
Speaker 3: So we are shocked and disappointed. Speaker 4: Because whoever had written and put
that statement out, it was categorically untrue. Speaker 1: Okay. So the full story, as we
now understand it, with regard to Trump and we'll get to Eastman in a second, the lawyer.
Trump was told January 4th, this is not something Pence can do. Trump dictate a letter dictated a
letter on a statement on January 5th saying this is something Pence can do
and later falsely claimed. Mike Pence agrees that this is something he can do.
None of that was true. So that's Trump. Let's now go to John Eastman