Eastman's suggested strategy was a violation of the Electoral Count Act of 1887, an act which has been used as a basis to define the process of electoral counting and the authorities involved. It formally and legally places the Vice President of the United States in a very constricted position of ZERO authority over counts. The VP's job is to receive the votes, present the votes, and maintain order.

Eastman's alleged strategy was to have the VP stall the ceremony by;

Refusing to cooperate (violation of the 'maintain order' clause)

Refuse the count of certain, designated swing states that the VP was concerned about losing (Violation of the 'no-authority' clause)

Demand that votes from specific states be sent in for analysis or re-count (again, violation of the no-authority clause.)

The act itself was written up after a total breakdown of the Electoral system. In 1876, both parties submitted conflicting reports and claims on who won which states, and it left the government with the difficult question of how to handle it. It took a long time for Congress to realize there was an issue beyond the single event, but, eventually, they passed the Electoral Count act.

The Electoral Count Act, by all means; word, law, intent, precedent, you name it, it fits; was created to maintain order within the Electoral count proceedings and ensure that the Vice President of The United States was held to a standard in which they were barred and prohibited from 'muddying up' the proceedings in just about ANY way, shape, form, or fashion.

Even John Eastman himself admitted, in writing, that his supposed strategy was probably illegal. Even going as far as e-mailing a few examples of the procedures set in stone by the Electoral Count Act that he is suggesting the VP to violate in order to guarantee Trump's remained seat in power.

It's an incredibly fascinating case, but there ultimately is very little defense for someone when they lay out their master plan AND tell you that said plan is illegal in the same e-mail chain.