Trump legal adviser asked for pardon after Jan. 6

Still no final deal on gun violence legislation

The Jan. 6 committee details Trump’s pressure on Pence to overturn the 2020 election. Normally, guilty people ask for pardons. And after pleading guilty - she wants to come back to Congress. This is “Regular Order” for June 17, 2022.

PARDON. Not only did law professor and Trump legal adviser John Eastman fail to convince Vice President Mike Pence to overturn the 2020 election, but Eastman evidently felt like he could be at legal risk for his efforts. Thursday’s hearing of the January 6 committee revealed that following the Capitol Attack, Eastman asked for a presidential pardon.

• EASTMAN. In an email to Trump's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani after the Jan. 6 attack, Eastman directly asked for legal protection. "I've decided that I should be on the pardon list, if that is still in the works," Eastman wrote. Normally, people don't ask for a pardon if they believe they did nothing wrong.

• FIFTH. In a hearing which delved deeply into Eastman’s efforts to cook up a legal scheme to legitimize Pence overturning the 2020 election, the committee played snippets of Eastman's deposition where he took the Fifth Amendment 100 times. Remember what Trump said in 2016: “If you’re innocent, why are you taking the Fifth Amendment?”

• GOP ONLY. I want to point out one other item involving Eastman. In his discussions with Pence aides, Eastman was asked whether he supported the idea of Democratic Vice Presidents overturning elections. No. Eastman only wanted Republicans to do that.

PENCE. Thursday's Jan. 6 hearing also gave us a look - for the very first time - at where Mike Pence sheltered during the attack. His secure location was a U.S. Capitol loading dock - which most people who work in the building couldn't find if they tried. While the Secret Service wanted Pence to leave - he would not.

• LIMBO. It was from this spot that Pence stayed in touch with Congressional leaders, Pentagon brass, and other officials. His aides confirmed that Pence never spoke during the next four hours to Donald Trump - who did not lift a finger to help stop the attack on Congress by his supporters.

Jamie Dupree @jamiedupree

Here's VP Pence at a Capitol loading dock deep in the bowels of the building. This is where he stayed for hours - refusing to leave - while rioters were ransacking the Capitol.

WARNING. Thursday's hearing closed with words from former federal appeals court judge J. Michael Luttig - a conservative hero and Pence adviser - who accused Donald Trump and his allies of continuing to plot a way to overturn future elections.

• SCHEME. Luttig said there was no precedent which would have allowed Pence - on his own - to reverse Donald Trump's election loss. "I would have laid my body across the road before I would have let the Vice President overturn the 2020 election," he said.

• LUTTIG. The former judge saved his best for last, issuing a dramatic warning to the nation, calling Trump a 'clear and present danger' to the Constitution and the Republic.

Washington Week | PBS @washingtonweek

J. Michael Luttig: "Donald Trump and his allies are a clear and present danger to American democracy. That is not because of what happened on Jan. 6. It's because to this very day," Trump and his supporters would seek to overturn the 2024 election.

GUNS. The Senate left town on Thursday afternoon without a deal on legislative language to follow through on a bipartisan agreement dealing with gun violence. Even if the final text is hammered out, getting it done next week would be very difficult - especially with a two week break set to start next Friday.

• TALKS. All week the talk has been positive. But there were some negative waves creeping in on Thursday. "Indecision and delay jeopardize the likelihood of a bill because you can’t write what is undecided and without a bill there is nothing to vote on," said Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX).

• SCHEDULE. The Senate is not back in until Tuesday. "I urge both sides to keep going at it, this is so important to the American people," said Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer. "I am hopeful they will come to an agreement on bill text soon."

• ATF CHIEF. While there was no final gun deal, Senators did vote 52-41 to move the nomination of a new head of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms out of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Earlier in the day, that panel had deadlocked 11-11 on Steven Dettelbach. A full Senate vote could come next week.

MEATPACKERS. In a mainly party line vote, the House on Thursday approved a plan to set up a special investigator inside the Agriculture Department to focus on competition in the meatpacking industry. The vote was 221-204. Five Democrats voted 'No,' while seven Republicans voted for the measure.

• GOP SEVEN. The seven Republican votes for the bill all came from farm states. Nebraska, South Dakota, Missouri, Illinois, and Iowa. The most surprising was Iowa, where all three Republicans bucked their leadership and voted for the bill (Feenstra, Hinson, and Miller-Meeks).

• IOWA. Democrats tried to add a few things to make this plan more palatable for Republicans from the Midwest - and it worked with Iowa Republicans. The bill included provisions which would allow the year-round sale of E15 ethanol gasoline - which takes in a lot of corn from Iowa farmers.

• INFLATION. The plan gives Democrats something else they can talk about when voters ask about inflation back home. But the narrow vote likely means this bill isn't going anywhere in the Senate.

• ELECTIONS. Democrats have struggled to come up with a legislative response to inflation, rising food prices, and especially gas prices. And that's not a good combination for them in the 2022 midterm elections to Congress. That's my column this week for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

BURN PITS. The Senate voted 84-14 on Thursday to approve a bill to speed new benefits to military veterans who may have suffered health problems from toxic burn pits. The next step would be working out a final agreement with the House, which has passed its own more expensive version.

• NO VOTES. All 14 'No' votes were from Republicans. Burr NC, Crapo ID, Lankford OK, Lee UT, Lummis WY, Paul KY, Risch ID, Romney UT, Rounds SD, Shelby AL, Thune SD, Tillis NC, Toomey PA, and Tuberville AL. The biggest concern is the cost.

• SPENDING. The CBO estimates the bill would cost about $28 billion a year - the House bill is about $32 billion per year. Budget watchdog groups raised red flags, accurately pointing out that the bill does not include any offsetting budget cuts to pay for these new benefits.

IMMIGRATION. The number of migrants trying to make it across the border from Mexico continues at a very high pace. In May, authorities encountered over 239,000 on the southwest border - a third consecutive month over 220,000 people.

• NUMBERS. To give you an idea of how much the immigration situation has spiked, let's go back to just before the outbreak of the Coronavirus. The monthly numbers then were about 35,000. "It's a full scale invasion," said Rep. Pat Fallon (R-TX).

CORRINE DELIVERS. In a surprise announcement on Thursday, ex-Rep. Corrine Brown (D-FL) - who pleaded guilty to corruption charges which led to her defeat in 2016 - announced she's going to run for Congress again in Florida's 10th District, which has no incumbent lawmaker for the November midterm elections.

• BROWN. "I’ve represented most of the people of the new 10th District during my 24 years in Congress and I always earned huge support in this region,” Brown said in a written statement. "We’ve got to turn this country around, move forward instead of backward. That’s what this campaign is all about."

• ELIGIBILITY. Most people will read this and think - wait a second - how can she run for Congress? Her plea agreement, in which Brown admitted to tax evasion, did not forbid her from running for elected office again. But the House could certainly refuse to seat her - if she actually wins this November.

REGULAR ORDER. Saturday will mark 42 years since my father dropped me off at the Capitol for my first job on Capitol Hill. His advice about what to expect in the halls of Congress still rings true today (“There’s a reason they call it the House of Representatives.”) Give the gift of straight news to someone you know and support my independent reporting about Congress.

MUSE OF HISTORY. June 17, 1841. This would have been a fun House session to watch. The House was first twisted in knots over a move to block motions to adjourn made before 4 pm. That drew objections - with future President Rep. Millard Fillmore proposing that the House adjourn every day for the next week by 3 pm. Then lawmakers clashed over a resolution attacking Sen. Henry Clay of Kentucky. Next up were calls for an investigation of the use of House stationery. Near the end of the day's session, it was an unruly bunch. "Mr. PROFFIT called the east side of the House to order," the record noted. "Mr. MALLORY called the west side of the House to order. Mr. GILMER called gentlemen of both hemispheres to order."

LEGISLATIVE PROGRAM:

The House next holds votes on Tuesday.

The Senate returns Tuesday for legislative business.

President Biden’s daily schedule link.

Follow me on Twitter @jamiedupree. Email me at jamiedupree@substack.com