And it’s possible Eastman was blowing smoke, elevating a popular internet rumor about tensions within the Supreme Court as if he had special insight. In the same Times story, Luke Broadwater and Maggie Haberman reported that another Trump-aligned lawyer, Kenneth Chesebro, suggested that “‘wild’ chaos” on Jan. 6 could suit the purposes of their legal effort. And it’s far from the only evidence that Trump and his allies viewed violence or the threat of it as leverage. According to the report, Eastman advocated for submitting a petition for certiorari in hopes of spurring a supposedly tense Supreme Court to act. Just five days earlier, on Dec. 19, Trump had promoted a protest in Washington on Jan. 6 by saying, “Be there.

Source: Washington Post June 16, 2022 20:18 UTC