WATCH: Pence lawyer Greg Jacob on why vice president had no authority to refuse electoral votes

[Rhiannon12866]

Last edited Thu Jun 16, 2022, 03:53 PM - Edit history (1)

Greg Jacob, who served as one of former Vice President Mike Pence's lawyers, testified June 16 before the House Jan. 6 committee that the Constitution did not provide a means for Pence to refuse count electoral votes for Biden and therefore change the outcome of the 2020 election, as former President Donald Trump suggested.

“There is just no way that the framers of the Constitution — who divided power and authority, separated it down, had broken away from George III and declared him a tyrant — there is no way they would put in the hands of one person the authority to determine who was going to be president of the United States,” Jacob said.

"In 230 years of history, no one had ever claimed to have that kind of authority, hadn't claimed authority to reject electoral votes and not claim authority to return electoral votes back to the states, in the entire history of the United States, not once had a joint session ever returned electoral votes back to the states to be counted," Jacob said.

The hearing was the third of several planned by the Jan. 6 committee that focused on Trump’s efforts to pressure former Vice President Mike Pence to reject Congress' official count of Electoral College votes on the day of the Capitol attack. In the year since its creation, the committee has conducted more than 1,000 interviews, seeking critical information and documents from people witness to, or involved in, the violence that day. The committee postponed a hearing scheduled for June 15 that was meant to focus on Trump's efforts to replace Attorney General Bill Barr, who did not support his claims of voter fraud after the election. - PBS NewsHour - Aired on 06/16/2022.




WATCH: Trump adviser said Dem VP can’t reject votes but Pence should ‘do it anyway,' lawyer recalls

Greg Jacob, a former advisor to Vice President Mike Pence, testified June 16 before the House Jan. 6 committee', detailing many of the conversations he had with conservative lawyer John Eastman, who advised President Donald Trump in the run-up to the Capitol attack that Pence could reject electoral votes.

Jacob recalled in one of these meetings, he posed to Eastman that this had not been done prior in the nation’s history, including when former Vice President Al Gore presided over the count for his own loss in 2000 – despite that election having also been contested in the courts.

“Back in 2000, you weren't jumping up and saying 'Al Gore had this authority.' You would not want Kamala Harris to exercise that kind of authority in 2024, when I hope Republicans will win the election, and I know you hope that too,” Jacob said.

“[Eastman] said 'Absolutely, Al Gore did not have a basis in 2000. Kamala Harris shouldn't be able to do it in 2024, but I think you should do it today,'” Jacob recounted Eastman saying.
The hearing was the third of several planned by the Jan. 6 committee that focused on Trump’s efforts to pressure Pence to overturn the 2020 election results in his duties overseeing Congress' count of Electoral College votes.

In the year since its creation, the committee has conducted more than 1,000 interviews, seeking critical information and documents from people witness to, or involved in, the violence that day. Aired on 06/16/2022.

[dem4decades]

1. I know I hate this guy but there's something I like about him.

[Rhiannon12866]

2. He advised Pence not to listen to TFG...

[ColinC]

3. Not just advised, but efffectively persuaded!

[Rhiannon12866]

4. Yes, he sure did.

Republicans are finally speaking up and it appears that they did the right thing when it came to Pence certifying the election. But, thanks to TFG's Tweet, that put Pence in mortal danger from the angry mob...