Jan. 6 Committee Obtains 101 Emails From Former Trump Lawyer

The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol has obtained 101 emails from a former Trump lawyer as part of its ongoing probe into the attempt to stop the certification of the 2020 presidential election. 

The emails from attorney John Eastman date from between Jan. 4 and Jan. 7, 2021, the days abutting the deadly insurrection.

Eastman had attempted to shield the missives from lawmakers, claiming they were protected under attorney-client privilege. The House panel argued that there was an exception for any ongoing or future crimes and a judge agreed .

“Based on the evidence, the Court finds it more likely than not that President [Donald] Trump corruptly attempted to obstruct the Joint Session of Congress on January 6, 2021,” U.S. District Court Judge David Carter wrote last month.

Carter went on to say he believed the pair “launched a campaign to overturn a democratic election, an action unprecedented in American history.”

The emails allegedly include discussions between Eastman, his associates and Trump aides about the methods they could have used to block the certification of the 2020 election, part of Trump’s efforts to remain in power. In some emails, Eastman and others discussed using court cases as a political argument to block the Congressional certification of the vote, CNN reported. 

In another email, they spoke about using state court rulings to justify proposals that would have seen then-Vice President Mike Pence enacting such plans.

“This may have been the first time members of President Trump’s team transformed a legal interpretation of the Electoral Count Act into a day-by-day plan of action,” Carter wrote when he ruled to release the emails.

“This is not a criminal prosecution; this is not even a civil liability suit,” he added. “At most, this case is a warning about the dangers of ‘legal theories’ gone wrong, the powerful abusing public platforms and desperation to win at all costs.”

Although neither Trump nor Eastman have been charged with any crimes, Eastman has become a significant figure linked to the select committee’s ongoing probe. 

Douglas Letter, the general counsel to the House of Representatives, said Eastman appeared to be a “central player in the development of a legal strategy to justify a coup.”