Finds likely evidence of a crime
“John Eastman attempted to protect Trump bragging about the size of his campaign rallies under a claim of atty-client privilege,” Marcy Wheeler observes. U.S. District Court Judge David Carter ruled that the attorney at the heart of Donald Trump’s effort to reverse results of the 2020 election must disclose 159 documents to the Jan. 6 committee he had tried to hide behind attorney-client privilege, including one the judge said contains likely evidence of a crime (Politico):
In a 26-page ruling, U.S. District Court Judge David Carter also ordered Eastman to provide 10 documents about meetings Eastman held with a secretive pro-Trump group that included a “high-profile” leader discussing strategies for overturning the 2020 election.
The 10 documents in question related to three December meetings held by the group. “Five documents include the agenda for a meeting on December 9, 2020,” the California-based judge indicated. “The agenda included a section entitled “GROUND GAME following Nov 4 Election Results,” during which a sitting Member of Congress discussed a “[p]lan to challenge the electors in the House of Representatives.” Other meetings of the group took place on Dec. 8 and Dec. 16, Carter noted.
“The Select Committee has a substantial interest in these three meetings because the presentations furthered a critical objective of the January 6 plan: to have contested states certify alternate slates of electors for President Trump,” he ruled. “Dr. Eastman’s actions in these few weeks indicate that his and President Trump’s pressure campaign to stop the electoral count did not end with Vice President Pence — it targeted every tier of federal and state elected officials. Convincing state legislatures to certify competing electors was essential to stop the count and ensure President Trump’s reelection.”
Of particular interest is which high-profile leader and group were involved in the planning. These documents will go to the committee. Perhaps the information will be new; perhaps it will only bolster facts the committee has already assembled. Eastman must surrender the documents by 5 p.m. Wednesday (today). The panel begins its prime-time presentation at 8 p.m. Thursday.
Carter ruled in March, Politico reminds readers,
that Trump and Eastman likely entered into a criminal conspiracy to overturn the election by attempting to impede the transfer of presidential power on Jan. 6, 2021. He described the attempt as a “coup in search of a legal theory,” determining that Eastman’s efforts to couch the effort in legal scholarship masked a more sinister effort.
Carter’s latest ruling identifies five documents in particular represent a “close call” for falliing under the crime-fraud exception to the attorney-client privilege shield. Four consider whether filing certain election lawsuits could disrupt Eastman’s alternate electors scheme. But in the fifth, Carter explains:
Because the attorney concluded that a negative court ruling would “tank the January 6 strategy,” he encouraged the legal team to avoid the courts. This email cemented the direction of the January 6 plan. The Trump legal team chose not to seek recourse in court—instead, they forged ahead with a political campaign to disrupt the electoral count. Lawyers are free not to bring cases; they are not free to evade judicial review to overturn a democratic election. Accordingly, this portion of the email is subject to the crime-fraud exception and must be disclosed.
Another tranche of 409 documents Carter allowed withheld. Others that expressly discuss avoiding legal action in furtherance of the political plan for alternate slates of electors. “Because these documents only relate to the political plan for January 6, they were not made in anticipation of litigation and thus are not protected.”
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