Trump Lawyer's Email Request To Join 'Pardon List' Spawns A Meme
Twitter erupted with memes Thursday after the Jan. 6 House select committee revealed a brazen email written by an attorney who advised then-President Donald Trump on his effort to overturn the 2020 election.
“I’ve decided that I should be on the pardon list, if that is still in the works,” John Eastman wrote in an email Rudy Giuliani, then Trump’s personal attorney, in the days following the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on Congress.
The House select committee presented the document Thursday in its third day of hearings, alongside other evidence indicating that Eastman publicly championed the theory that Vice President Mike Pence had the authority to certify fake slates of electors to keep Trump in office while privately acknowledging it likely wouldn’t stand up in court.
That admission could be used to argue that Eastman knowingly committed a crime when he pressured Pence to obstruct the electoral vote count, which the vice president presided over on the day of the Capitol riot.
Eastman spoke at Trump’s “Stop the Steal” rally just before the assault on the Capitol. In his remarks, he pushed the former president’s lie that the election had been rigged and demanded that Pence send the official Electoral College results back to the states.
Hundreds in the crowd went on to storm the U.S. Capitol, some chanting “hang Mike Pence” as they took matters into their own hands to attempt to keep Trump in power.
Five days later, Eastman apparently decided that he “should be on the pardon list.”
He never got one. Dozens of others did, though, in a pardon spree during Trump’s final days in office.
Twitter users had a field day:
I've decided I should be on the pardon list. If that's still in the works. pic.twitter.com/mvF44B3l6L
— Lachlan Markay (@lachlan) June 16, 2022
Live your life so that you never have to send an email saying "I've decided that I should be on the pardon list" https://t.co/ufAFll3L6l
— Christopher Ingraham (@_cingraham) June 16, 2022
Walter would like to be on the pardon list, if it’s still in the works. pic.twitter.com/ZqGp6OGdHR
— Jessica Huseman (@JessicaHuseman) June 16, 2022
He really should have gotten on the pardon list when it was still in the works https://t.co/BgyWEx06EU
— Asha Rangappa (@AshaRangappa_) June 16, 2022
They typically teach you on the first day of Law Professor School that one simply cannot ask to be on the pardon list. pic.twitter.com/yIXcjrft5Z
— Anthony Michael Kreis (@AnthonyMKreis) June 17, 2022
"I've decided I should be on the pardon list, if that's in the works. pic.twitter.com/IRlussRQcf
— Peter Sagal (@petersagal) June 16, 2022
I know this is bad for democracy and all, but "Third, I've decided I should be on the pardon list, if that's still in the works" is objectively the funniest thing that's been said by an attorney for the president since Four Seasons Landscaping.
— Susan Simpson (@TheViewFromLL2) June 16, 2022
“I’ve decided that I should be on the pardon list because look what I have to deal with!" pic.twitter.com/qeEOWxGyhp
— Mary L Trump (@MaryLTrump) June 17, 2022
This is going to go down in history as one of the most amazing quotes in the history of American politics.
“‘I’ve decided that I should be on the pardon list if that is still in the works,’ the email said. Mr. Eastman was not ultimately on the pardon list.”— Darcy James Argue 🇺🇦 (@darcyjamesargue) June 16, 2022
“I’ve decided that I should be on the pardon list, if that is still in the works.” pic.twitter.com/fIB9R3tzCv
— ConstitutionalMischiefHat (@Popehat) June 16, 2022
starting a pardon list
who wants in— Philip Bump (@pbump) June 17, 2022
“I’VE DECIDED THAT I SHOULD BE ON THE PARDON LIST IF THAT IS STILL IN THE WORKS” pic.twitter.com/PA2a8UC518
— The Daily Show (@TheDailyShow) June 16, 2022
“I have decided that I should be on the pardon list, if that’s still in the works.”
Go directly to jail.
Do not pass go.
Do not collect a penny.— Jay Arnold (@jadedcreative) June 16, 2022
When you send an email wondering if the pardon list might still be open pic.twitter.com/lVeSx5qa9Q
— Lethality Jane🌻 (@LethalityJane) June 16, 2022
“I’ve decided I should be on the pardon list, if that is still in the works.” pic.twitter.com/tgPNgzZQMa
— Charlotte Clymer 🏳️⚧️🇺🇦 (@cmclymer) June 17, 2022
“I’VE DECIDED I SHOULD BE ON THE PARDON LIST IF THAT’S STILL IN THE WORKS” pic.twitter.com/vF0VNiE5JQ
— Captain Jordy (@meidasjordy) June 17, 2022
This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.