On the evening of January 6, 2021 — as the Capitol Police were doing final sweeps of ransacked buildings and senators were preparing to resume the electoral vote count — former President Donald Trump asked the White House switchboard to get Mark Martin on the phone.

A retired North Carolina Supreme Court justice, Martin was a key adviser to Trump’s multi-pronged fight to overturn his loss in November 2020. In discussions with aides and administration officials, Trump considered Martin’s counsel as important as that of attorney John Eastman, who’s currently under indictment in two states and may be disbarred in a third. Trump so trusted Martin that another legal adviser name-dropped him to bolster his own pitches. …..more