WASHINGTON – Former Vice President Mike Pence’s refusal to single-handedly reject electoral votes on Jan. 6, 2021, as former President Donald Trump pressured him to do, would be the topic of the Thursday Home listening to investigating the Capitol assault.
The most recent:
- Pence: electoral depend rejection ‘unlawful’: Marc Brief, chief of workers to former Vice President Mike Pence, says Pence advised former President Donald Trump “many occasions” that any plan to have Pence reject electoral votes was unlawful.
- Federal choose: Trump’s order would have been ‘tantamount to revolution’: Federal Choose J. Michael Luttig advised the Jan. 6 Committee that had Pence obeyed orders from Trump on Jan. 6, declaring Trump the presidential election winner, it could have “plunged America” into what he says would’ve been “tantamount to a revolution inside a constitutional disaster.”
- The vice chairman ‘can’t probably’ select the president: Greg Jacob, counsel to Pence, stated that whereas the Electoral Rely Act contains “ambiguous” textual content, “frequent sense and construction would let you know” that it “can’t probably be” {that a} vice chairman would have the authority to decide on the U.S. president below the Structure.
- Hannity ‘very frightened: ‘Fox Information’ Sean Hannity advised White Home chief of workers Mark Meadows in textual content messages of his considerations round Jan. 6. On Dec. 31, he wrote, “I do NOT see January 6 occurring the way in which he’s being advised.” And on Jan. 5, he texted that he was “very frightened in regards to the subsequent 48 hours.”
- An intense effort to lean on Pence: Rep. Pete Aguilar stated the Jan. 6 committee discovered that by Jan. 4, Trump had “engaged in a quote multi-week marketing campaign to strain the Vice President to determine the end result of the election.” It concerned non-public conversations, a gathering with Congress and tweets from the president.
- Trump lawyer John Eastman’s technique: Eastman “acknowledged” that his proposals would violate provisions of the Electoral Rely Act, Pence’s former authorized counsel Greg Jacobs stated, including that Eastman thought this was OK as a result of he considered the act as unconstitutional.
What to anticipate out of right now’s listening to:Trump raised tens of millions to struggle election fraud earlier than Jan. 6. This is how that cash was spent.
Committee: Trump ‘dialed up’ strain on Pence as Jan. 6 approached
As a part of its multi-media presentation, the committee performed a collection of movies demonstrating how Trump utilized the screws to Vice President Pence because the counting of electoral votes approached.
At a politically rally on Jan. 4, 2021, Trump advised screaming supporters he hoped Pence “comes via for us” and throws out electoral votes – a video the committee performed twice.
Whereas calling Pence “a fantastic man,” Trump pointedly added that: “After all, if he does not come via, I will not like him as a lot.”
Across the similar time, aides like Rudy Giuliani and John Eastman made public assertion through which they urged Pence to behave, though they knew the vice chairman lacked the authorized authority over the casting of electoral votes.
Two days after Trump’s rally, Pence once more made clear he wouldn’t perform the president’s calls for – and the assault on the U.S. Capitol occurred.
Trump “dialed up the strain as Jan. 6. approached,” stated Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., a committee member.
– David Jackson
Pence “by no means budged” in place that he couldn’t overturn the election
When Pence was first launched to Eastman’s concept that he might reject electors, his “first intuition was that there was no approach anyone particular person” might have that energy, in accordance with Pence’s former authorized counsel, Greg Jacob.
Marc Brief, former Chief of Employees to Pence, advised the Jan. 6 committee that Pence was “very constant” in making clear he couldn’t overturn the election to Trump.
Requested if Pence ever wavered in his place, Jacob stated, “The Vice President by no means budged from the place I had described as his first intuition, which was that it simply made no sense from every part that he knew and had studied about our Structure, that one form of particular person would have that form of authority.”
– Kenneth Tran
Congressman, witness level to Al Gore’s acceptance of his loss in 2000
Stakeholders pointed to how then-Vice President Al Gore presided over the electoral depend within the 2000 presidential election he misplaced to George W. Bush with out elevating any questions or objections in regards to the course of.
“He by no means steered that he might merely declare himself the winner of the 2000 election when he presided over the counting of the electoral votes,” stated Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-Calif.
Greg Jacob, Pence’s former counsel, stated he defined to Trump lawyer John Eastman: “Again in 2000 you weren’t leaping up and saying that Al Gore had the authority to do that. You wouldn’t need Kamala Harris to have the ability to have that form of authority in 2024, after I hope Republicans win the election.”
– Erin Mansfield
Paul Ryan: Pence doesn’t have ‘any larger authority’ over outcomes
Former Pence Chief of Employees Marc Brief testified that former Home Speaker Paul Ryan, R-In poor health., spoke to each himself and Pence in regards to the joint committee, and all have been in settlement that the vice chairman has no larger authority over election outcomes.
Brief additionally advised the committee that Pence consulted with former GOP Vice President Dan Quayle, who agreed with Pence that the function within the joint session is solely ceremonial, not authoritative.
– Katherine Swartz
Luttig: Eastman’s scheme ‘constitutional mischief’
Retired federal appeals choose Michael Luttig advised the panel former President Donald Trump’s advisers bought “wrapped across the axle” by lawyer John Eastman’s historic proof in regards to the vice chairman’s function in counting Electoral Faculty votes.
However Greg Jacob, Pence’s counsel, stated no vice chairman in 230 years of the nation’s historical past acted as Eastman proposed. Luttig stated he would have tried to forestall Thomas Jefferson, John Adams or Richard Nixon from following Eastman’s plan.
“I’d have laid my physique throughout the street earlier than I’d have let the vice chairman overturn the 2020 election on the premise of that historic precedent,” Luttig stated. “That is constitutional mischief.”
– Bart Jansen
Eastman didn’t consider his personal debunked authorized concept, committee says
John Eastman, Trump’s legal professional who pushed the false notion that Pence might determine the winner of the 2020 election, didn’t consider the speculation would maintain up within the Supreme Court docket, in accordance with testimony from Pence authorized counsel Greg Jacob.
Eastman acknowledged to Jacob earlier than Jan. 6 that the nation’s excessive nation would probably reject the speculation by a 9-0 vote, Jacob recalled.
“Dr. Eastman by no means actually believed his personal concept,” stated Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-Calif, one of many Home committee members.
– Joey Garrison
Sean Hannity ‘very frightened’ within the hours earlier than rebel
The committee is presenting reams of proof that folks very near Trump have been very doubtful about the concept Pence might merely award the election to him – and frightened in regards to the ramifications.
Fox Information host Sean Hannity, for instance, despatched White Home Chief of Employees Mark Meadows a collection of tweets reflecting considerations that the White Home authorized staff would possibly resign over Trump’s strain on Pence.
“I am very frightened in regards to the subsequent 48 hours,” Hannity texted on Jan. 5, 2021, a day earlier than the rebel.
– David Jackson
Giuliani privately admitted Pence couldn’t overturn election earlier than talking at Jan 6 rally
In a deposition, former Trump impeachment lawyer Eric Herschmann described a name between him and Rudy Giuliani on the morning of Jan. 6.
“We had an mental dialogue about Eastman’s – I don’t know if it’s Eastman’s concept per se however the VP’s function and he was asking me my view, evaluation, and different sensible implications of it.” stated Herschmann. “And after we completed, he stated like I consider you’re most likely proper.”
“I believe he thought, have been it carried out, it was one thing he’d have to think about if he was sitting on the bench. However he’d most likely come down on that and you recognize, couldn’t interpret it or maintain the argument long run.”
Hours later, Giuliani spoke on the ellipse to Jan. 6 protestors, telling them “Each single factor that has been outlined, because the plan for right now, is completely authorized.”
– Kenneth Tran
Herschmann: “You’re going to trigger riots within the streets”
Trump’s counsel John Eastman advised White Home counsel Eric Herschmann he noticed ambiguities inside the twelfth Modification that allowed Pence to cease the certification of votes, thus deciding who could be the subsequent president.
“Are you out of your f’ing thoughts?” Herschmann stated to Eastman, saying voters wouldn’t tolerate this and it could trigger riots within the streets.
In response, Eastman advised Herschmann that there’s been a historical past of violence within the nation to guard democracy and the republic, so it was vital for Pence to not certify election outcomes.
– Katherine Swartz
Advisors stated Pence didn’t have energy Trump claimed
Advisors to President Donald Trump have been conscious that Vice President Pence didn’t have the facility to overturn the outcomes of the 2020 election, witnesses advised the Jan. 6 committee.
Marc Brief, Pence’s chief of workers, stated White Home Chief of Employees Mark Meadows advised him “a pair occasions” earlier than Jan. 6, 2021 that Pence didn’t have the facility. Brief added, “Mark had advised so many individuals so many various issues that it was not essentially one thing that I’d settle for as, ‘OK, that’s resolved.’”
Jason Miller, an aide to Trump, stated White Home Counsel Pat Cipillone thought the plan to have Pence have an effect on the election “was nutty and at one level had confronted (Trump lawyer John) Eastman principally with the identical.”
– Erin Mansfield
‘No thought extra un-American’: Pence legal professionals says historic priority, textual content refuted Trump scheme to reject outcomes
Greg Jacob, former authorized counsel for Pence, stated he and different attorneys reviewed the textual content of the Structure,the intent of founding fathers and historic precedent, figuring out the vice chairman has no authority to decide on the subsequent president.
“There may be nearly no thought extra un-American than the notion that anybody particular person would select the American President,” Jacob stated.
Jacob stated no vice chairman in 230 years ever claimed to have such an influence that the vice chairman can reject the electoral votes submitted by states.
Jacob recounted what he advised Jon Eastman, the legal professional pushing the speculation to Trump: “For those who have been proper, do not you assume Al Gore might need favored to have identified in 2000 that he had authority to only declare himself president of america?”-
– Joey Garrison
Luttig: “The language of the twelfth modification is that straightforward”
After lengthy testimony, Senior Investigative Counsel John Wooden requested retired Federal Choose Michael Luttig if the twelfth modification was as sophisticated as John Eastman, made it out to be.
“Choose Luttig, on the threat of oversimplifying for the non-lawyers who’re watching,” stated Wooden. “Is it truthful to say that the twelfth modification principally says two issues occur: the vice chairman opens the certificates and the electoral votes are counted. Is it that simple?”
“The language of the twelfth modification is that straightforward,” stated Luttig.
– Kenneth Tran
Luttig: Vice President Pence had no energy to strike down electoral votes.
Retired federal choose Michael Luttig is citing quite a few authorized rulings to knock down the pro-Trump declare that Vice President Mike Pence had any authority in any respect to throw out electoral votes.
“There was no historic precedent,” Luttig stated.
Principally, the vice chairman has no energy in any respect with regards to congressional counting of electoral votes, Luttig stated, together with recognition of seven slates of other electors put up by the Trump individuals.
“There was no foundation within the Structure or the legal guidelines of america AT ALL for the speculation espoused by Mr. (John) Eastman,” Luttig stated at one level. “In any respect. None.”
Luttig isn’t just any retired federal choose, by the way in which – he was as soon as a rising conservative star who got here very near winding up on the Supreme Court docket.
President George W. Bush had Luttig on his quick record, although he in the end picked John Roberts and Samuel Alito for prime court docket vacancies.
– David Jackson
Trump legal professionals needed Pence to not depend Arizona’s electoral votes
A day earlier than the Electoral Faculty met to solid their votes on Dec. 14, 2020, Trump legal professional Kenneth Chesebro despatched a memo to Rudy Giuliani that Pence is charged with “making judgements about what to do if there are conflicting votes.”
Chesebro needed Pence to not depend Arizona’s votes (which JBiden received) within the joint session of Congress, “as a result of there are two slates of votes.”
A bunch of Trump supporters in Arizona and different states had proclaimed themselves “the true electors for the state,” thus creating a bunch of official electors chosen by the state, and a bunch of “faux electors,” Cheney stated within the listening to.
– Katherine Swartz
Pence ‘first intuition’ stated he didn’t have energy over 2020 election
A lawyer for Vice President Mike Pence stated Pence had a direct response to the concept he might sway the 2020 election — that there is no such thing as a approach that the framers of the Structure meant for him to have that energy.
Greg Jacob, Pence’s common counsel, recounted Pence’s response and described the dialog that got here earlier than Jacob put collectively a authorized memo for Pence that defined the obscure line within the Structure describing the vice chairman’s function in addition to the Electoral Rely Act that laid out the method of counting votes.
“The vice chairman’s first intuition when he heard this concept was that there was no approach that our framers – who abhorred concentrated energy, who had damaged away from the tyranny of George the third – would ever have put one particular person – notably not an individual who had a direct curiosity within the consequence as a result of they have been on the ticket for the election – in a task to have decisive influence within the consequence of the election,” Jacob stated.
– Erin Mansfield
Pence began asking about his authority to depend electors in early December
Greg Jacob, Pence’s former counsel within the vice chairman’s workplace, stated he was first requested by Pence in regards to the vice chairman’s function within the course of to depend electoral votes in early December.
Jacob recalled that Pence introduced up former Vice President Al Gore utilizing his gavel to strike down some Democratic lawmakers who objected to leads to the 2000 election.
Jacob stated that each he and Pence concluded that the vice chairman – in accordance with the Electoral Rely Act of 1887 and the U.S. Structure – lacks any function apart from counting the votes licensed by the Electoral Faculty. He stated the vice chairman doesn’t have the authority to determine the presidency.
“There isn’t any justifiable foundation to conclude that the vice chairman has that form of authority,” Jacob stated.
– Joey Garrison
Pence lawyer: Eastman knew election scheme violated Electoral Rely Act
Former Vice President Mike Pence’s counsel, Greg Jacob, advised the committee that John Eastman admitted his scheme to have Pence single-handedly overturn the election violated the Electoral Rely Act.
The 1887 statute units the foundations for a way Congress counts votes in presidential elections. Jacob advised the committee throughout his deposition Eastman conceded his argument was opposite to historic apply, would probably be rejected unanimously by the Supreme Court docket and violated the Electoral Rely Act in 4 methods.
Former President Donald Trump held an Oval Workplace assembly Jan. 4 to strain Pence, however the vice chairman refused to buckle. Committee investigators requested if Eastman ever acknowledged in entrance of Trump that his proposal would violate the legislation.
“I consider he did on the Fourth,” Jacob stated in a videotaped deposition performed Thursday.
– Bart Jansen
Rep. Pete Aguilar: Trump knew there was violence on the Capitol when he tweeted at Pence
Democratic Rep. Pete Aguilar from California stated former President Donald Trump knew the Capitol was breached when he tweeted at former Vice President Mike Pence to overturn the 2020 election.
“You’ll additionally hear President Trump knew there was a violent mob on the Capitol when he tweeted at 2:24 p.m. that the Vice President didn’t have the quote, braveness to do what wanted to be carried out.” Trump tweeted then that Pence lacked the braveness to “do what ought to have been carried out and shield our nation and structure.”
“Let me be clear,” stated Aguilar. “Vice President Pence did the suitable factor that day. He stayed true to his oath to guard and defend the structure.”
– Kenneth Tran
Rep. Pete Aguilar: Trump “latched on to a harmful concept and wouldn’t let go”
In his opening assertion of the listening to, Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., stated that January sixth was not an remoted incident, that for weeks main as much as the assault Trump dedicated “unlawful scheme and deception.”
Aguilar stated the committee’s proof proves that Trump knew he misplaced the election after which tried to avoid “the nation’s most basic civic custom: the peaceable transition of energy.”
“The president latched on to a harmful concept and wouldn’t let go as a result of he was satisfied it could preserve him in workplace,” Aguilar stated.
– Katherine Swartz
Aide says Pence advised Trump “many occasions” he couldn’t reject electoral votes
Vice President Mike Pence’s Chief of Employees advised the committee that Pence had communicated on to Trump that he didn’t have the authorized or constitutional authority to reject electoral votes and thereby hand Trump the presidency.
Marc Brief stated in a videotaped interview with the committee that Pence had not solely written a letter to Trump saying he had no such authorized authority, however communicated the identical factor to Trump “many occasions” and “very persistently.”
– Erin Mansfield
Professional-Trump rioters: Hold Mike Pence!
The committee performed chilling movies of Jan. 6 rioters threatening Mike Pence once they realized he had refused to throw out electoral votes – a requirement made by their patron, Donald Trump.
“I am listening to studies that Pence caved!” one rioter stated throughout a profane rant.
One other tape confirmed demonstrators chanting a harrowing theme: “Hold Mike Pence! Hold Mike Pence!”
– David Jackson
Committee chair calls Pence rejection of Trump scheme ‘brave’
Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., chairman of the Jan. 6 Home Committee, kicked off the third listening to Thursday, saying testimony will reveal a strain marketing campaign waged by former President Donald Trump to reject the electoral votes confirming Joe Biden’s election victory.
“Donald Trump needed Mike Pence to do one thing no different vice chairman has ever carried out. The previous president needed Pence to reject the votes and both declare Trump the winner or ship the votes again to the states to be counted once more.
“Mike Pence stated no. He resisted the strain. He knew it was improper. We’re lucky for Mr. Pence’s braveness.”
Thompson added: “When Mike Pence made it clear that he would not give into Donald Trump’s scheme, Donald Trump turned the mob on him.”
– Joey Garrison
Thompson: Committee needs to query Ginni Thomas
The chairman, Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., advised reporters Thursday the committee needs to query Ginni Thomas, the spouse of Supreme Court docket Justice Clarence Thomas, over her contacts with a lawyer who developed a plan to overturn the 2020 election.
The committee had earlier mentioned pursuing Ginni Thomas due to textual content exchanges with former White Home chief of workers Mark Meadows about preventing outcomes of the 2020 election.
However the committee lately obtained emails between Ginni Thomas and John Eastman, a lawyer for former President Donald Trump who developed the plan for Vice President Mike Pence to single-handedly tip the election in favor of Trump, in accordance with The Washington Publish.
“We predict it’s time that we, in some unspecified time in the future, invite her to come back discuss to the committee,” Thompson advised reporters, in accordance with Axios reporter Andrew Solender.
– Bart Jansen
Trump raised cash for ‘election protection’ and gave tens of millions to his allies
A fundraising committee affiliated with former President Donald Trump raised tens of millions of {dollars} for an “Official Election Protection Fund,” however the Jan. 6 committee stated in its listening to Monday that it discovered no proof that fund existed.
A lot of the cash went to a management fund known as Save America that gave tens of millions to Trump allies. For instance, nonprofits affiliated with advisor Kellyanne Conway and chief of workers Mark Meadows acquired $1 million every. Campaigns for candidates operating to unseat Trump foes in Congress acquired $5,000 every.
E. Danya Perry, who served as an assistant U.S. Lawyer within the Southern District of New York from 2002 to 2013, stated the case has the constructing blocks of a “fairly clear minimize” case of wire fraud, a topic that’s “bread and butter for federal prosecutors.”
– Erin Mansfield
The place did Trump’s ‘Election Protection Fund’ cash go?:Trump raised tens of millions to struggle election fraud earlier than Jan. 6. This is how that cash was spent.
‘1776 Returns’ detailed plans to occupy buildings close to Capitol
A doc allegedly given to Proud Boys Chairman Henry “Enrique” Tarrio previous to the Jan. 6 rebel lays out detailed plans to occupy greater than half a dozen buildings surrounding the U.S. Capitol and describes techniques for use by occupiers as they “Storm the Winter Palace.”
The total doc titled “1776 Returns,” hooked up as an exhibit in a court docket submitting Wednesday by Tarrio’s co-defendant Zachary Rehl, was described by one former federal prosecutor as “a completely devastating piece of proof.”
Patrick Cotter, a former federal prosecutor in Chicago who has practiced legal legislation for 40 years, stated the “1776 Returns” doc is a bombshell for prosecutors, assuming it may be verified. “The authors are clearly planning a number of, a number of felonies; they’re saying how they are going to do it, and it is all in service, apparently, to a broader crime, which is the sedition.” he stated.
Learn extra on the doc right here.
– Will Carless
Pence in Cincinnati, Ohio, as Jan. 6 listening to focuses on him
Former Vice President Mike Pence will journey to Cincinnati on Thursday alongside Gov. Mike DeWine for a roundtable with members of Ohio’s pure fuel and oil trade.
On the identical day, the Home Jan. 6 committee is anticipated to look at how former President Donald Trump pressured Pence to overturn the 2020 election.
The roundtable will not be open to the general public. Will probably be hosted by the Ohio Oil and Gasoline Vitality Training Program. Pence will even be on the town to boost cash for Rep. Steve Chabot’s reelection marketing campaign on the dwelling of Nancy and David Aichholz, in accordance with an invite despatched out by the GOP.
– Scott Wartman, Cincinnati Enquirer
Pence in Ohio: Mike Pence in Cincinnati right now as Jan. 6 committee seems to be at how Trump pressured him
What time is the Jan. 6 listening to on Thursday?
The listening to is scheduled to start at 1 p.m. ET.
The way to watch the Jan. 6 listening to
USA TODAY will livestream the hearings right here on USATODAY.com. The hearings have additionally been televised on C-Span and cable information networks.
Trump lawyer: Pence was calm when advised about lack of election fraud
Alex Cannon, a Trump marketing campaign lawyer, described a stoic Vice President Mike Pence in comparison with different Trump aides in response to the shortage of election fraud.
Cannon discovered no proof of sufficient voter fraud to alter the election. At one level throughout a November 2020 assembly on the White Home, Pence requested Cannon for an replace.
“I don’t bear in mind his actual phrases, however he requested me if we have been discovering something, and I stated that I used to be not personally discovering something adequate to change the outcomes of the election,” Cannon stated. “He thanked me. That was our interplay.”
Who has the Jan. 6 committee subpoenaed?:Who has been subpoenaed up to now by the Jan. 6 committee?

One Trump lawyer to a different: Get a fantastic legal protection lawyer
In a promotional tweet Tuesday for the listening to, the committee launched video of Eric Hershmann, considered one of Trump’s legal professionals, who described warning Eastman the day after the riot he ought to discover a “nice” protection lawyer.
Eastman had contacted Hershmann to speak about Georgia election outcomes as a result of he couldn’t attain different Trump aides. Hershmann questioned Eastman’s sanity and advised him the one phrase he needed to listen to from Eastman from then on was “orderly transition” to the Biden administration.
“Finally he stated, ‘Orderly transition,'” Hershmann stated. “I stated, ‘Good, John. Now I’m going to provide the finest free authorized recommendation you’re ever getting in your life. Get a fantastic f-ing legal protection lawyer. You’re going to wish it.’ Then I hung up on him.”
How Trump’s PAC spent cash:Trump raised tens of millions to struggle election fraud earlier than Jan. 6. This is how that cash was spent.

Who’s testifying? Former Pence counsel Greg Jacob
Greg Jacob, Pence’s counsel who researched the vice chairman’s energy to reject electors when Congress counts presidential votes, advised Eastman in an e-mail Jan. 6, 2021, at 2:14 p.m. that his recommendation was “primarily fully made up,” in accordance with court docket data.
In an Oval Workplace assembly with Trump on Jan. 4, Pence pressured his “quick intuition that there is no such thing as a approach that one particular person could possibly be entrusted by the Framers to train that authority,” in accordance with Jacob.
Because the mob ransacked the Capitol two days later and Pence evacuated the Senate chamber, Jacob emailed Eastman to say “due to your bull—-, we are actually below siege,” in accordance with court docket data.
Invoice Barr and Donald Trump:Invoice Barr’s sophisticated relationship with Donald Trump: From very important advocate to damning witness

Who’s Michael Luttig? Retired choose to testify
Eastman clerked for Michael Luttig, a retired choose for the 4th U.S. Circuit Court docket of Appeals who was rumored as a possible Supreme Court docket nominee throughout President George W. Bush’s administration.
The identical day Trump pressured Pence and Jacob within the Oval Workplace, Pence’s private lawyer, Richard Cullen, known as Luttig to ask about Eastman. Luttig tweeted his disagreement with Eastman’s argument the morning of Jan. 5.
“The one duty and energy of the Vice President below the Structure is to faithfully depend the electoral faculty votes as they’ve been solid,” Luttig stated. “The Structure doesn’t empower the Vice President to change in any approach the votes which were solid, both by rejecting sure of them or in any other case.”
Jan. 6 committee listening to schedule:This is what to anticipate at upcoming Jan. 6 hearings
Pence’s former chief of workers Marc Brief says he sided with Structure over Trump
Marc Brief, Pence’s chief of workers, advised the committee the vice chairman was happy with what was completed throughout the 4 years of the Trump administration, however sided with the Structure within the election showdown.
“I assume he was proud to have stood beside the president for all that has been carried out,” Brief stated in a videotaped deposition. “However I believe he in the end knew that his constancy to the Structure was his firstly oath.”