Page:Final Report of the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol.pdf/485

 c. January 6, 2021: Trump, Eastman and Giuliani Continue to Pressure Vice President Pence at the Ellipse Rally. Despite the Vice President's unwavering stance, the President and his outside counsel continued to turn up the heat of public pressure.

At President Trump's urging, thousands had gathered on the morning of January 6th to hear the President and others speak at a rally held at the Ellipse, a park just south of the White House. Before President Trump spoke, Eastman took the stage alongside Giuliani. Both would further amplify the President's public pressure on the Vice President, but when Giuliani spoke on the Ellipse, he already knew that what Eastman had outlined would never practically happen.

At 9:31 a.m. that morning, Giuliani called Eric Herschmann "out of the blue" to ask him for his view and analysis of the practical implications of Eastman's theory. According to Herschmann, after an "intellectual discussion about . . . the VP's role," Giuliani agreed that the "practical implication of [what Eastman had proposed] would be almost impossible." Immediately after this 5½ minute conversation with Herschmann, Giuliani had two calls with the White House, at 9:41 a.m. and 9:53 a.m.

Giuliani recognized Eastman who joined him on stage, claiming that he was "one of the preeminent constitutional scholars in the United States."

Giuliani said Vice President Pence could either "decide on the validity of these crooked ballots, or he can send it back to the legislat[ures], give them five to 10 days to finally finish the work." He added that that they had "letters from five legislat[ures] begging us to do that." This was not true. At most, what Giuliani, Eastman and other allies of President Trump had managed to procure were letters from individual State legislators or groups of State legislators. None of the letters came from a majority of any State's legislative chamber, let alone a majority of an entire State legislature.

For instance, a letter that Eastman described to Jacob as a "[m]ajor new development" on the evening of January 5th contained the signatures of 21 members of the Pennsylvania Senate. Eastman claimed that it "now looks like PA Legislature will vote to recertify its electors if Vice President Pence implements the plan we discussed," but the letter asked only for a "delay" in certification to "allow for due process." The Select Committee learned from the most senior Pennsylvania Senate Republican that he signed the letter because of pressure he was feeling due to the voluminous post-election outreach from President Trump, Trump allies, and the public. And, he only agreed to sign a letter directed to Congressional