Joe Scarborough would like to see John Eastman’s fame continue to grow.
Before the Select Committee hearings on January 6, most people hadn’t heard of Eastman, the attorney and legal scholar who was advising the Trump administration – before, during and after the Capitol riot – to block the election certification using an obscure procedural theory centering on Vice President Mike Pence.
“It seems like a slam dunk,” Scarborough said on “Morning Joe,” suggesting sedition charges could be Eastman’s next claim to fame.
“He is clearly working with Donald Trump to commit sedition against the United States of America,” the MSNBC host said. “I’m sorry, how hard of a call can this be for [Attorney General] Merrick Garland by the time he gets all the evidence?”
Thursday testimony focused on Eastman’s role in pushing the notion that Pence had the power to reject certain electors, which would have thrown the issue back to “contested” states. Several witnesses, including well-respected conservative legal advisers close to Trump, stated emphatically from the stand that the idea wasn’t just legally ludicrous – but that Eastman knew it was illegal.
Scarborough’s guest, former U.S. attorney Joyce Vance, noted that Eastman asked to be on Trump’s outgoing pardon list, and pleaded the Fifth more than 100 times during his own congressional deposition. She also suggested that as Eastman goes, so will Trump go:
“This is not just someone who wanders in off the streets,” Vance said. “He gets to be in this meeting because everyone understands he speaks with Trump’s voice. … It becomes clear Eastman and Trump are working together to obtain this illegal objective.”
Watch the video of the entire interview above.