×
Thursday, May 14, 2026

1/6 panel probes Trump pressure on Pence to reject election - The Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The 1/6 committee is set to plunge into Donald Trump’s last-ditch effort to salvage the 2020 election by pressuring Vice President Mike Pence to reject the electoral count — a highly unusual and potentially illegal strategy that was set in motion in the run-up to the U.S. Capitol riot.

With two live witnesses Thursday, the House panel intends to show how Trump’s false claims of a fraudulent election left him grasping for alternatives as courts turned back dozens of lawsuits challenging the vote.

Trump latched onto conservative law professor John Eastman’s obscure plan and launched a public and private pressure campaign on Pence days before the vice president was to preside over the Jan. 6 joint session of Congress to certify Joe Biden’s election victory. A federal judge has said it is “more likely than not” Trump committed crimes over the scheme.

“The illegality of the plan was obvious,” the Jan. 6 panel said in a court filing against Eastman.

The committee will hear from Greg Jacob, the vice president’s counsel who fended off Eastman’s ideas for Pence to carry out the plan; and retired federal judge Michael Luttig, who called the plan from Eastman, his former law clerk, “incorrect at every turn.”

Capitol siege

  • What we know about how Pence's day unfolded on Jan. 6

  • What we know about how Pence's day unfolded on Jan. 6

  • EXPLAINER: The last-ditch plan to have Pence stop Biden win

  • Jan. 6 panel releases video of Capitol tour before attack

  • Thursday’s session is...



    Read Full Story: https://apnews.com/cdc64a3de7950e6f3291851b3c5d9b1a