+

Cookies on the Business Insider India website

Business Insider India has updated its Privacy and Cookie policy. We use cookies to ensure that we give you the better experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we\'ll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies on the Business Insider India website. However, you can change your cookie setting at any time by clicking on our Cookie Policy at any time. You can also see our Privacy Policy.

Close
HomeQuizzoneWhatsappShare Flash Reads
 

Trump's lawyers wanted Clarence Thomas to review their 2020 election lies, saying he was their 'only chance' of stopping Biden's victory

Aug 10, 2023, 22:00 IST
Business Insider
US Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas poses for the official photo.OLIVIER DOULIERY/AFP via Getty Images
  • Trump's lawyers wanted Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas to help them stop Biden's 2020 election.
  • One Trump lawyer wrote that "our only chance to get a favorable judicial opinion" that "might hold up the Georgia count in Congress, is from Thomas."
Advertisement

Donald Trump's lawyers — who were identified as co-conspirators in Trump's latest federal indictment — wanted Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas to help them stop Congress from certifying Joe Biden's 2020 election victory.

That's according to emails previously obtained by the House select committee investigating the Capitol riot, as well as an internal campaign memo that The New York Times reported on this week.

"The point is to have the court say that probably the election was void, which should be enough to prevent the Senate from counting the Biden electoral votes from Georgia, right?" one Trump lawyer, Kenneth Chesebro, wrote in a December 31, 2020 email to other attorneys working on Trump's behalf to nullify Biden's victory.

Georgia was one of seven battleground states that Biden won in the 2020 election.

Chesebro went on to say that "possibly Thomas would end up being the key here — circuit justice, right? We want to frame things so that Thomas could be the one to issue some sort of stay or other circuit justice opinion saying Georgia is in legitimate doubt."

Advertisement

Thomas is the circuit justice for Georgia, Alabama, and Florida, meaning he oversees emergency requests coming from those states.

"Realistically, our only chance to get a favorable judicial opinion by Jan. 6, which might hold up the Georgia count in Congress, is from Thomas — do you agree, Prof. Eastman?" Chesebro wrote in the email.

He was referring to the conservative lawyer John Eastman, who was one of the recipients of the email.

"I think I agree with this," Eastman replied. "If the court were to give us 'likely,' that may be enough to kick the Georgia Legislature into gear, because I've been getting a lot of calls from them indicating to me they're leaning that way."

Both Chesebro and Eastman were referenced as unnamed co-conspirators in the special counsel Jack Smith's latest indictment against Trump. The former president was charged with four counts of conspiracy and obstruction earlier this month in connection to his efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

Advertisement

Chesebro and Eastman haven't been criminally charged.

You are subscribed to notifications!
Looks like you've blocked notifications!
Next Article