The memos from then-Trump lawyer Jenna Ellis, which contain disputed legal theories about Pence’s ability to stop a Biden presidency, underscore Ellis’ promotion of extreme arguments that she promulgated amid Trump's effort to reverse the election.
in the week before the Jan. 6 Capitol attack that claimed then-Vice President Mike Pence had the authority to refuse to count presidential electors from states that delivered Joe Biden the White House.
In a second, previously unreported memo dated Jan. 5, Ellis made a more technical legal argument that she delivered to Jay Sekulow, one of Trump's outside lawyers. Sekulow represented Trump during his first impeachment and in a series of legal battles during his administration, but he had minimal involvement in Trump’s election litigation. The exception was anIn the Jan.
In an interview Friday, Sekulow said he continues to believe that Pence had no lawful authority to block any of Biden’s electors, but he suggested Ellis was entitled to her view.Ellis’ memo to Sekulow may have been part of a bid to persuade him to reverse his position. She writes that Pence’s role was not a “ministerial function” — the same phrase Sekulow had used that day.
Ellis worked closely with Giuliani in the aftermath of the 2020 election, traveling to multiple states to push Republican legislators in those locations to attempt to intervene before their presidential ballots could be certified. She later sought to convince state lawmakers to hold emergency sessions and attempt to submit alternate slates of Trump electors to Congress in advance of Jan. 6.
Under some versions of the strategy, the legislatures in states whose results Trump was hoping to overturn would be given 10 days to revisit their election results and determine whether to reverse them.
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