Harvard law prof pledges to defend Electors who reject Trump
A well-known Harvard University law professor has pledged his legal expertise to any Elector who wishes to betray the voice of the people and vote against President-elect Donald Trump.
Larry Lessig, a former longshot contender for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination who didn’t even make the debates, has now launched a project called “The Electors Trust,” which claims to provide “free and strictly confidential legal support to any Elector who wishes to vote their conscience.”
Members of the project, which Politico reports is headed by Lessig in conjunction with a California law firm, argue that Electors have a “right” to exercise their “independent and nonpartisan judgement,” saying they will defend any dissenting Electors “against any fines or legal claims that might threaten the freedom of [their] vote.”
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Lessig defend the project in a recent op-ed, noting that he “joins an active field of others doing similar work,” including the “Hamilton Electors,” who argue that “the Founding Fathers intended the Electoral College to stop an unfit man from becoming President.”
Lessig does explain, however, that he does not “have a particular agenda for electors,” but simply hopes to provide them with “the legal assurance they might need to be able to act according to their conscience.”
He even claims that his efforts to help overturn the election results are in no way intended as a snub to Trump supporters, though he does concede that he disagrees with them politically.
“Nothing in our work aims to denigrate or to sow any hatred of them or anyone,” he proclaims, assuring readers that he grew up “in Trump country,” and thus has “respect for, and at least some understanding of, the people I disagree with.”
[RELATED: Lessig drops out, but not for a lack of university donations]
“But so long as our constitution vests in these citizens this extraordinary power, we believe they should be supported as they seek in good faith to exercise it,” he explains, saying, “The Electors Trust will support them in that.”
Notably, Lessig expressed a hint of admiration for Trump earlier this year after putting an end to his failed bid for the presidency, declaring that “as much as it’s impossibly difficult” for him to “imagine a Donald Trump presidency,” he did “think that the highest probability of fundamental reform is if Donald Trump is president.”
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