Legal analysis published in October finds today's scenario favors Trump victory

As thousands of Trump supporters prepare to descend upon the Capitol this coming week amid a presidential election they are contesting, there is a mass of confusion and conflicting information about what happens next.

You may have heard that a growing list of Republican members of the House and Senate have pledged to object to the electoral count of some states during Wednesday's joint session of Congress.

Most analysts have said such objections, in practical terms, amount to nothing because while they can trigger debates lasting up to two hours, it would take a majority in both the House and Senate to reject the state results naming Joe Biden the next president of the United States.

There are other less discussed and, some insist, less likely scenarios. Some of them are examined in a legal analysis by John Yoo and Robert Delahunty. Published in October, about two weeks before the presidential election, it plays out multiple scenarios including under circumstances like the ones we face today. It is titled "What Happens if No One Wins? The Constitution provides for election crises—and its provisions favor Trump."

Here are some applicable excerpts from the analysis.

"Suppose states send electoral votes that—even if certified by the governor—remain under question, whether because of fraud in the vote, inability to count the ballots accurately under neutral rules, or a dispute between branches of a state government...

...Vice President Pence would decide between competing slates of electors...

...If the electoral count remains uncertain enough to deprive either Trump or Biden of a majority in the Electoral College, then the 12th Amendment orders that “the House of Representatives shall choose immediately, by ballot, the President...

...If today’s House chose the president, voting by state delegations, Trump would win handily."John Yoo and Robert Delahunty, Oct. 19, 2020

An extended excerpt from the analysis follows:

...Suppose states send electoral votes that—even if certified by...

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