 On the other hand, there was also a First Amendment defense. He was basically petitioning the government, and if he didn't use force of fraud against Pence, it's perfectly okay. Roberts took a different line. He says, anytime you speak to another government official when you're in office, that's an official act, and we don't want to look to motive to figure out why you're doing it. So all of a sudden, a knockdown case for the government turns out to be a dead loser.