a. Trump and Eastman The evidence shows that Trump and Eastman agreed, tacitly or explicitly, to work in concert towards the common goal of obstructing the congressional count on January 6, 2021.225 Eastman is the author of two memoranda that lay out a scheme of highly dubious legality for overturning the election.226 Both call for Vice President Pence to “determine[] on his own” which of the states’ electoral certificates “is valid, asserting that the authority to make that determination under the 12th Amendment, and the Adams and Jefferson precedents, is his alone.”227
In public and in closed-door meetings, Trump repeatedly and forcefully backed Eastman’s scheme.228 Their apparently close partnership in pitching the scheme to policymakers, and ultimately to the public, is indicative of a commonality of purpose. As shown in greater detail above: On January 2, they participated together in a call to convince state legislators to overturn the election.229 On January 4, they met with Pence together, and they both followed up and kept the pressure on.230 They both spoke at the January 6 rally, with Eastman directly preceding Trump—both men advocating for Pence to interfere with the congressional count.231 And both Trump and Eastman continued pushing their illegal scheme even during the Capitol invasion.232 So here there is what amounts to explicit communication; coordination on substance, messaging, and timing; complete consonance of not just goals but also strategies; and lockstep actions. Trump and Eastman appear to have worked together—sometimes in the same room, sometimes consecutively, always consistently. They promoted a single objective—overturning the election—through common means: pressuring Pence to throw out electoral certificates or to adjourn Congress, both in contravention of established law.