DENIED! Trump Lawyer’s Bid to Protect Seized Phone From Jan. 6 Criminal Probe Rejected By Bush-Appointed Federal Judge

Trump lawyer John Eastman was denied emergency relief by a federal judge in a bid to protect his phone from Attorney General Merrick Garland‘s January 6 criminal probe.

Eastman, a key figure on the legal team behind former President Donald Trump‘s plot to overturn the 2020 election, had his phone seized several weeks ago as part of the ongoing criminal investigation into Jan. 6, and tried to block the FBI from unlocking it.

Judge Robert Brack, who was nominated to the United States District Court for the District of New Mexico by President George W. Bush in 2003, decided Friday that he will not grant Eastman emergency assistance to protect the phone:

US District Judge Robert Brack rejected Eastman’s arguments for emergency help from the court in an opinion Friday. Eastman had asked the court to block federal investigators from using the contents of his phone in their probe.

Brack validated the court-approved warrant that had enabled the FBI to take and unlock Eastman’s phone when agents approached him outside a restaurant in New Mexico last month.

The judge noted that the Justice Department said it would get a second warrant before searching the phone. It’s unknown whether the DOJ has taken that step.
The department typically puts in place what’s called a “filter team” when dealing with material seized from attorneys or that could be privileged.

“Because there is no evidence that the Government has searched the phone or plans to search it without the benefit of a Filter Team, and because the warrant specifies that no search of the phone will occur until further order of the court, Eastman fails to show a likelihood of success” on one of his constitutional arguments, the judge wrote.

Chatter around Garland’s criminal has greatly increased as the blockbuster January 6 hearings have uncovered a raft of damaging information. Garland has said that his prosecutors are watching.