John Eastman, one of Donald Trump’s alleged co-conspirators to overturn the 2020 election, got the business from Scott Pelley on Sunday.
The “60 Minutes” host slapped the lawyer with a few “gotcha” clapbacks.
Eastman claimed in a speech on Jan. 6, 2021, that voting machines were rigged in Georgia. He told the Georgia legislature that thousands of convicts and dead voters somehow submitted ballots to sway the election in Joe Biden’s favor. The state’s Republican secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, who voted for Trump, found the claims to be false.
“You said 2,500 convicts, the investigation found four. You said 10,000 dead voters, the investigation found four,” said Pelley, who then took off his glasses to plunge in the dagger: “It doesn’t seem like you knew what you were talking about.”
Eastman accused Pelley of mischaracterizing his testimony and pointed to language that 2,500 was not quoted as an exact amount. He also said he had yet to see Raffensperger’s data.
“Too late to adjust the numbers now,” Pelley snapped. “You’ve already testified to the legislature, and there’s a big difference between as many as 2,500 and the actual number of four.”
“Well, we don’t know the actual number is four because the secretary of state has declined to give us the information on which that analysis was based,” Eastman replied.
Eastman was asked if there’s so much evidence, why hasn’t a state reported fraud that could reverse its elections.
“I think we are quickly turning into a country where there’s the pro-government party, or the Uni party, one might euphemistically call it,” he said. “And folks that are concerned about the direction our country is going, the MAGA movement, the tea party movement before that if you will and the folks in those government offices tend to be on the one side of that dispute rather than the other.”
“And you say they’re covering it up,” Pelley commented.
“Well, certainly they’re not investigating it to the level I think the evidence warrants,” Eastman said.
(Conversation starts at the 7:45 mark.)
Pelley got in the last word on that as well.
“Further investigation was pursued ― by Georgia prosecutors,” the host said. “A grand jury indicted 19 defendants, including the former president, alleging a conspiracy to overturn the election, including false statements ... to persuade Georgia legislators to reject lawful electoral votes...”
Several lawyers who pushed Trump’s claims in the case have already reached plea deals in exchange for their testimony against accomplices if called upon.
Eastman is also alleged to be one of Trump’s henchmen who hatched the notion that Vice President Mike Pence could challenge the certification of votes.
He told Pelley the only thing he’s guilty of is giving bold legal advice to Trump.
The former Chapman University law professor already faces possible disbarment in California after a judge in a disciplinary case against him found he helped perpetrate the 2020 scheme. He is charged with nine counts in the Georgia case, including racketeering.