Clarence Thomas was ‘key’ to plan to delay certification for 2020 election, Trump lawyers say in email

CNN
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Former President Donald Trump’s lawyer has called Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas “key” to Congress’ plan to delay President Joe Biden’s victory in litigation after the 2020 election, which was recently sent to the House Select Committee to investigate in January. 6.

“We want to frame things so that Thomas can issue a temporary order that casts doubt on the Georgia results,” Trump attorney Kenneth Chesbrough wrote in a December 31, 2020, email. A chance to stop Congress from counting Georgia’s electoral votes for Biden.”

Another Trump lawyer, John Eastman, responded to an email saying he agrees with the plan. In an email exchange with several other lawyers who work on Trump’s legal team, they were discussing filing a lawsuit that they hope will result in an order from Georgia to disqualify Biden’s electoral vote due to voter fraud.

Chesebro wrote that having a case pending before the Supreme Court is enough to prevent the Senate from counting Biden’s electors. Thomas will be “the key here,” Chesebrough wrote, describing Thomas as a justice assigned to handle emergency cases from the southeastern part of the county.

The email Thomas was first reported by Politico. The portion of the email the council obtained from Eastman is still pending in the appeals court, according to the court order. The emails were obtained through a link in a court filing filed by a House committee earlier Wednesday.

U.S. District Judge David Carter ruled that the emails show evidence of possible criminal activity in Trump’s efforts to reverse his election loss. When Carter ordered the emails released to a House committee last month, he said some of them showed evidence that obstructed the official process.

In a separate email, Chesebrough, one of the attorneys, acknowledged that their plan was a long shot, putting the odds of success at the Supreme Court at “1%” before congressional certification on Jan. 6.

This story has been updated with additional details.