A former lawyer for Donald Trump known for his 2020 memo on how the then-president could overturn his election loss reportedly urged legislators in Pennsylvania to toss absentee ballots and retabulate the popular vote to give Trump a lead. Citing emails between John Eastman and the state’s GOP lawmakers first reported by The Denver Post, Politico reports the plan was part of a final effort in December 2020 to reverse the election results and undo Joe Biden’s win. Eastman is said to have told Pennsylvania lawmakers that recalculating the vote would “provide some cover” to Republicans and pave the way for them to swap in pro-Trump electors. His advice to Republican lawmakers was reportedly for them to “discount each candidates’ totals by a prorated amount based on the absentee percentage those candidates otherwise received,” a move he said would provide “a significant Trump lead that would bolster the argument for the Legislature adopting a slate of Trump electors.” Biden won the state by more than 80,000 votes.
