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Notes -
Reminder on January 4th Pence gave this statement:
https://nitter.privacydev.net/KanekoaTheGreat/status/1686540469076152320#m
This is a weak argument if you can't defend the original point, and instead have to emphasize the glib line "Courts can conclude someone lied".
It isn't a glib line. It is a description of what juries do every day: Resolve he-said-she-said controversies. Hence, arguing "This just boils down to he-said-he-said" is meaningless.
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I'm not sure what you think that statement proves.
Okay, Pence said he had concerns about the validity of the election. Cool. But that in no way implies that he had the unilateral authority to reject the validity of state electors.
Pence says he told Trump he did not have the power. Trump said Pence did have the power. Pence acted in accordance with both his public statements about his own authority and his claimed private statements to Trump about his own authority. So if Trump is telling the truth, then Pence really committed to the bit, voluntarily and unnecessarily removing himself from office. And as you point out, he would have done so in the context of an election whose results he publicly questioned.
He-said-he-said: Trump must be lying, because Pence's testimony suggests he was. Meanwhile, two days before, Pence was publicly aligning himself with Trump's position.
It's untenable to suppose that Trump "knew" he was lying when he consistently genuinely believed in public and private. But it doesn't matter, because you know and I know and we all know that a DC Jury under an Obama judge doesn't care and won't grant a fair trial.
No. You are conflating two very distinct propositions:
Pence made vague statements supporting proposition 1. He clearly and explicitly rejected proposition 2.
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