JUST IN: Trump’s Own Lawyers Mocked His Lack of Wealth In Emails Revealed By January 6 Committee

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Former President Donald Trump‘s own lawyers mocked their client’s claims of wealth behind his back in a set of emails revealed by the January 6 committee.

Exaggerated or false claims of wealth have been a recurring theme of Trump’s public life, as well as the basis for a potentially devastating fraud case brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James.

They were also the subject of an email exchange between Trump attorney John Eastman and others on Trump’s legal team, according to a new filing by the January 6 Committee.

In a filing to the United States District Court for the Central District of California, the committee asked the court to knock down Eastman’s claim of privilege regarding 562 documents that Eastman has tried to withhold from them.

“In his most recent privilege log, Dr. Eastman continues to offer conclusory descriptions insufficient to allow Congressional Defendants to accurately assess the validity of his privilege assertions,” committee counsel Douglas Letter wrote, adding, “Additionally, in camera review is necessary because Dr. Eastman’s prior representations have proven consistently unreliable.”

He then provided examples of such claims that later turned out to be, pardon the legalese, BS:

As just one example, this Court previously addressed a photograph (Chapman025905, attached as Ex. A) that Dr. Eastman had described as a “handwritten note re issues for anticipated litigation,” but which turned out to be a photograph of a Trump campaign rally with a handwritten note stating: “TIMES 50 SUCH EVENTS – NO WAY THIS LOSES.”

Ex. A; see ECF No. 356 at 14 (“Although Dr. Eastman’s privilege log claims that the photo is President Trump’s ‘handwritten note re issues for anticipated litigation,’ the note simply celebrates the size of President Trump’s campaign rallies.”).

Among the other examples given was the exchange — between Eastman and fellow attorneys Kenneth Chesebro and Bruce Marks  — mocking Trump:

The exchange read as follows:

CHESEBRO: Am at Trump Internat ona n NYC, so I’m fee ng extra nsp red to work on the Pres dent’s cases!!

MARKS: A shame you are not in DC and could contribute to violation of the emoluments clause. (smmiley-face emoji)

CHESEBRO: I m stay ng at Trump Int n DC from Jan 3 to at east the 8th. Do ng my part to curry favor w th the Pres dent by n ng h s (empty) pockets!

The committee told the judge that the “examples illustrate Dr. Eastman’s representations regarding the nature or content of the remaining 562 documents are unreliable.”

“Congressional Defendants therefore ask that the Court review these documents in camera to determine the validity of Dr. Eastman’s privilege assertions and the applicability of the limitations and exceptions considered in this Court’s prior orders, including waiver, compelling need, and crime-fraud,” they wrote.

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet Newsletter
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!