January 5, 2024

This Happened THREE YEARS AGO TODAY

From the White House switchboard records of January 5, 2021:

This was the evening before Trump's mob stormed the Capitol and it was while Trump was still trying to convince Vice President Pence to stop the electoral vote count.

As I wrote 2 years ago, CNN had some context:

The committee also released call logs from the days leading up to January 6, 2021 painting a fuller picture of who the former president was speaking to as he and his allies were plotting for him to stay in office, the first time the panel is releasing White House call logs in their entirety.

The logs have been crucial to the panel’s investigation in piecing together a timeline of events. While the log for January 6 has a seven-hour gap, the committee has gone to great lengths to fill in that part of the timeline through witness interviews and other records.

The day before the US Capitol attack, Trump spoke to then-Vice President Mike Pence. After that conversation, Trump spoke with Pennsylvania state Sen. Doug Mastriano, who helped fuel Trump’s election lies in the state, and then the switchboard operator left a note “that Senator Douglas Mastriano will be calling in for the Vice President.”

And then there's this from CNN:

Mastriano and Finchem signed a letter to former Vice President Mike Pence on January 5, 2021, asking him to delay certification of the electoral results on January 6.  

This letter.

Curious thing about the "research" presented to the VP attached to this letter signed by (among many others) PA State Senator Doug Mastriano: It came from something called "The Amistad Project."

Take a look at this from The Washington Post:

A conservative legal organization that has filed lawsuits challenging the election results in five states has a tie to President Trump’s legal team, raising questions about the independence of what has appeared to be an endeavor separate from the president’s last-gasp legal maneuvering.

Senior Trump campaign legal adviser Jenna Ellis serves as special counsel to the Thomas More Society, which has filed lawsuits through the newly formed Amistad Project alleging problems with the vote in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

The Thomas More Society confirmed her relationship to the group but said she is playing no role in its election-related activities.

Some more info on Jenna:
Jenna Ellis, an attorney who served as an adviser on former President Donald Trump's 2020 campaign, pleaded guilty to a single count in the case brought by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis over alleged efforts to reverse the outcome of the 2020 election.

Court filings showed Ellis agreed Monday to plead guilty to one felony charge of aiding and abetting false statements and writing. She appeared before Fulton County Superior Court Scott McAfee for her plea hearing Tuesday, and she agreed to serve five years probation, pay $5,000 in restitution, and complete 100 hours of community service.

And just a little more:

Doug Mastriano, the Republican nominee for governor in Pennsylvania, has appointed Jenna Ellis, a former lawyer for the Trump campaign who worked to overturn the 2020 election, as a senior legal adviser, his campaign announced on Monday.

Amazing the connections Doug has to Trump's attempted coup, isn't it?

But back to the late night call between State Senator Doug Mastriano and then-occupant (now under multiple indictments) Donald Trump.

Senator, I'll ask again:

What did you two talk about?

Won't anyone else ask Doug this question?

UPDATE: I counted the years wrong. Oops.