JUST IN: Jan. 6 Committee Accuses Trump of ‘Criminal Conspiracy’ In Attempt to Block 2020 Election Certification

Drew Angerer/Getty

The January 6th Committee filed court documents accusing former President Donald Trump and his team of engaging in “a criminal conspiracy to defraud the United States” with his attempts to stop the certification of his election loss.

Washington Post reported on a federal court document the committee filed against John Eastman, the former Trump lawyer who proposed a plan for how former Vice President Mike Pence could’ve supposedly overturned the 2020 election. Eastman was subpoenaed by the committee months ago, but it appears he is now being uncooperative, for he reportedly refuses to turn over his emails and documents of interest on the grounds of attorney-client privilege.

From the Washington Post report:

Lawyers for the House panel investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol said in a court filing Wednesday that former president Donald Trump and key allies engaged in potential crimes during their effort to overturn the election: conspiring to defraud the United States and obstructing an official congressional proceeding — the counting of electoral votes.

The alleged criminal acts were raised by the committee in a California federal court filing challenging conservative lawyer John Eastman’s refusal to turn over thousands of emails the panel has requested related to his role in trying to persuade Vice President Mike Pence to reject electors from states won by Joe Biden. Eastman has cited attorney-client privilege as a shield against turning over the documents because he has said he was representing Trump at the time.

The committee is making the argument that Eastman has no claim to privilege if he was helping Trump’s team engage in criminal acts, so they are asking a federal judge to decide whether to release Eastman’s communications in order to make that determination. Committee leaders Bennie Thompson (D-MS) and Liz Cheney (R-WY) offered a statement saying “The facts we’ve gathered strongly suggest that Dr. Eastman’s emails may show that he helped Donald Trump advance a corrupt scheme to obstruct the counting of electoral college ballots and a conspiracy to impede the transfer of power.”

“The Select Committee also has a good-faith basis for concluding that the President and members of his Campaign engaged in a criminal conspiracy to defraud the United States,” the filing says, according to the Post. The development comes as the committee filed a deposition saying Eastman pleaded the Fifth Amendment and refused to answer their questions when they interviewed him.

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