“The Vice President has the power to reject falsely elected voters,” Trump falsely announced Tuesday, lending credence to a mistaken theory that Pence could reverse election results at Wednesday’s election time of Electoral College votes and again stressed his senior lieutenant’s involvement outside of constitutional boundaries.
His message came this morning after Trump rallied supporters in Georgia using Pence’s upcoming connection on the Senate floor.
“I hope Mike Pence comes through for us, I have to tell you,” Trump said Monday night at a political gathering in Georgia, where public arms were met. “Of course, if he doesn’t come through, I don’t like him. so great. “
It was a direct message to a vice president whose political character still defines a useless complaint to Trump. As Pence progresses Wednesday when he heads over the Electoral College credentials that could test his future relationship with the man he has served faithfully, even in politically dangerous times. .
The two men had lunch together Tuesday, according to two sources. Their lunches are usually listed on their public records, but they were not listed Tuesday.
Pence and White House supporters have tried to explain to him that Pence’s role is more formal and he cannot unanimously reject Electoral College votes. Trump has a penny to walk through his career largely in hopes of easing the pressure on him, a strategy that is unlikely to have worked since the President persuaded him. especially to take action on Monday night without saying exactly what he wanted a penny to do.
There is little expectation among Trump or Pence supporters that he will step down from his constitutionally mandated position.
“It will follow the law and the Constitution,” said one expert.
Unsurprisingly, Trump still seems obsessed with the idea and has not stopped asking Pence how he could back down or prevent Biden from being proven as a winner, according to people familiar with the conversations.
“He’s an amazing guy and a tough guy and a guy I really like but he’ll have a lot to say about it,” Trump said Monday. “You know one thing with him. You’re going to get straight views. He’s going to call that exactly. “
Boundary identification?
While Trump has been pressuring Pence to throw out results from individual states, both publicly and privately, Trump’s top adviser to Jim Acosta at CNN acknowledged that within the remnants of the Trump campaign that the vice president can only do so much. above the proceedings. Officials within the campaign and close relatives have spent days debating how far pennies can go, the councilor said.
Penny is “just as hard, just as upset” as Trump, the adviser said. “But the question is what can be done constitutionally about it.”
A set of fringe lawyers and some White House supporters have urged Trump to see Pence’s upcoming role in the Election College deal as one of delay and blocker, rather than one who could name Trump as a winner, according to people familiar with the talks.
The argument offered to Trump – and one he has presented to Pence – is that Pence could delay the testimonial beyond Wednesday and ultimately question who won the election to either the House of Representatives or the High Court.
“Let them claim,” has been a message from the group to Trump, leading him to believe he could once again end up in the Supreme Court.
The lawyers, who included Rudy Giuliani and John Eastman, have been run through several options in several meetings over the past several days, and the President has been listening and into their arguments, said experts. Trump has spent “several hours” every day debating the issue, one official said.
The first option – which lawmakers have told Trump is unlikely to succeed – is that the protests brought in by Republican lawmakers lead to so many protests that the House of Representatives has gone to decide. This is seen as a very remote potential as the number of seniors currently on board with complaints is not enough to allow them to succeed.
More convincing for Trump is the argument that, after Pence listened to the arguments and complaints, he refuses to convince voters from the six states that conservatives are complaining that there is controversy: Arizona , Nevada, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin and Georgia.
This would be far outside the role Pence was instructed to do, which is to open the credentials from each state and give them to the “journalists” and, at the end of the scene, announce the winner. There is also no evidence of widespread voter fraud that would give credence to the protests.
The disdain of these six states would not make Trump a winner; Instead, as none of the candidates would meet the 270-vote threshold, Trump’s lawyers believe he would put the question to the House of Representatives. With every state delegation (as opposed to every member) getting one vote, Trump would have the upper hand.
Methodology
Traditionally, the vice president presides over a certificate of election vote, although it is not required. In 1969, Vice President Hubert Humphrey was not in charge of the process since he had just lost the primary election to Richard Nixon. He was replaced by the pro tempore president of the Senate.
One source near Pence said it is not seen as a good choice for a Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley – the current pro tempore president – to replace Pence on Jan. 6.
Pence and Trump were seen meeting in the Oval Office Monday, along with White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and Trump’s daughter, Ivanka Trump, before Trump left for Georgia. According to Giuliani, the pair was ready to discuss how they would proceed on January 6th.
“The President and the vice-president have to make that decision, and they are indeed meeting today and going through the whole inquiry – it seems that they will not ‘I’m going to make that decision sometime tomorrow, “Giuliani said on a podcast hosted by Charlie Kirk, a conservation campaigner.
Giuliani ticked off a number of issues that he described as constitutional issues that he said Pence and Trump would discuss. He created the decision as one for both Trump and Pence – even though the President has made it clear that he believes Pence should act to block the testimony, and Pence, in private, has explained that his role is just ceremonial.
On Sunday, Pence met for a lengthy session with Senate Parliament Elizabeth Macdonald in his office just off the Senate floor. Penny Chief of Staff Marc Short, who was also in the capital and was once seen entering the office of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, has denied purpose of meeting to find a way to translate the results of the Electoral College.
“No,” Short said. “We’re just meeting.”
When asked why he was meeting with parliament, Short said they were “trying to prove the true process. “
President’s anger
However, an approach and approach can hardly inspire a penny from the turmoil of a President who still believes that the election has been stolen from him and who has been given a conspiracy diet about the results by a group of councilors margins.
Even as far back as this weekend, Trump trade adviser Peter Navarro told Fox News that Pence had the power to move back on consecration day, in violation of the Constitution.
Last month, Trump offered pictorial approval for the lawsuit filed by his Republican representative. Louie Gohmert pressured Pence to reject the election results and it was later disappointing that his own Department of Justice was asking the judge to reject the suit, according to an acquaintance. on the case. Trump and Pence discussed the issue at the end of last week.
Trump has for weeks told allies that he doesn’t think Pence is fighting hard enough for it. That fear is something that prompted Pence’s chief of staff to issue a statement Saturday night saying he welcomed attempts in Congress to raise complaints about Electoral College, though several said of them that it appeared to have been carefully written and that they did not say that he fully supported the objections.
“Vice President Pence shares the concerns of millions of Americans about voter confusion and anomalies in the last election,” Short wrote. “The Vice-President welcomes the efforts of members of the House and Senate to use their legal authority to raise objections and testify before Congress and the American people. on January 6th. “
Speaking at his own rally in Georgia Monday, Pence gave little insight into thinking Jan. 6, even though he backed Trump’s false claims about voter fraud.
Instead, he kept his views vague.
“I know we all have doubts about the last election,” he said. “I want to assure you, I share the concerns of millions of Americans about voting irregularities. I promise you, this Wednesday will come, our day will be in Congress, we will hear the complaints, we will hear the evidence. “
Not a penny said what happens next.
Jim Acosta from CNN, Kaitlan Collins and Pamela Brown contributed to this report.