Beyond the Riot: Unpacking January 6th

OA1108 - A Coup in Search of a Legal Theory

We commemorate the fourth anniversary of the January 6, 2021 insurrection by remembering the two elite lawyers who bear significant personal, moral, and legal responsibility for one of the single worst days in US political history. The bad-faith legal cover Kenneth Chesebro and John Eastman provided for the “Stop the Steal” movement in the months leading up to MAGA’s violent insurrection would ultimately result in nine deaths, hundreds of injuries, and the initiation of more than 1500 federal criminal cases--but Eastman and his MAGA allies are already trying to rewrite that history in front of us. We push back in this special episode, with more to come.

• SS chief Reinhart Heydrich’s official memo authorizing and regulating the  Kristallnacht “demonstrations” targeting the property of German Jews (11/10/1938)

• January 6th House Select Committee’s final report (and supporting evidence)

• Fake elector records submitted to the National Archives (via FOIA by American Oversight)

• Cleta Mitchell email requesting that John Eastman write a memo for a “movement” which needs “Constitutional support” (11/5/20)

• John Eastman’s first “draft” memo (12/24/20)

• John Eastman’s second memo (early 2021)

• Kenneth Cheseboro’s NY disbarment ruling (10/31/24)

• Record of John Eastman CA disbarment proceedings

• Kenneth Cheseboro December 9, 2020 memo

• John Eastman’s speech at January 6, 2021 “Stop the Steal” rally

• Jack Smith’s Motion for Immunity Determination (with complete supporting brief) in Trump v. US outlining all of the many ways that Trump knew there was no fraud in the 2020 election and the entire fake elector scheme

• DC federal indictment of Donald Trump for conspiring to overturn the 2020 election (8/1/2023)

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