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had such authority, you could never have a party switch thereafter." If politicians followed Eastman's advice, "[y]ou would just have the same party win continuously if indeed a Vice President had the authority to just declare the winner of every State."[184]
The Vice President's office was unmoved by Eastman's specious reasoning. As he left Marc Short's office, Eastman was thinking of his client's reaction. "They're going to be really disappointed that I wasn't able to persuade you," Eastman said.[185]
Former Republican Officials with Executive, Legislative, and Judicial Experience All Agreed with Vice President Pence's Conclusion about His Limited Role at the Joint Session. As President Trump's pressure campaign intensified, the Vice President's outside counsel, Richard Cullen, turned for support to John Michael Luttig, a conservative former judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.[186] Eastman had clerked for Luttig—a man with impeccable legal and conservative credentials—more than two decades prior. Luttig rejected Eastman's so-called legal analysis of the Vice President's role in no uncertain terms. In a series of tweets, posted at 9:53 a.m. on January 5th, Luttig set forth his legal conclusions.
