Topline
Former President Donald Trump committed criminal fraud by knowingly making false voting claims under oath, a federal judge said Wednesday, ordering special Trump lawyers handed over documents to the Jan. 6 committee because they were “contributing to crime.”
President Donald Trump ) at arrived at The Ellipse near the White House to speak with supporters… [+] January 6, 2021, Washington, DC
Key Facts
U.S. District Judge David Carter Orders Help Trump Overturn 2020 The election’s right-wing lawyer and legal scholar Eastman turned over 33 documents to the House committee by Oct. 28 (Eastman claimed privilege in 561 documents).
Due to the “criminal fraud” exception, 8 emails must be handed over, The exception applies when the document is protected by attorney-client privilege but “where the client consults an attorney for advice that can serve [them]]
to commit a fraud or crime”, or when When the document itself is “sufficiently related” to and “contributes to” the crime.
Four emails show Trump signed after oath A legal document proving that thousands of votes were fraudulently counted in Fulton County, Georgia, were “true and correct,” though Eastman noted in an email that at the time — the president Was “told” that the allegations and evidence behind them were inaccurate.
EMAILS ABOUT THESE FRAUD ALLEGATIONS — TRUMP LEGAL TEAM ALSO ALLEGED ABOUT 2020 ELECTION The resulting lawsuit was accurate — “sufficiently related to and contributing to a conspiracy to defraud the United States,” and must be surrendered, Carter ruled.
Other documents covered by the criminal fraud exception show that Trump and his lawyers filed a lawsuit challenging the 2020 election results “not to obtain legal relief, but to disrupt or Postpone the Jan. 6 congressional proceedings,” Carter ruled for obstruction of justice.
Eastman’s attorney, Charles Burnham, has not responded to a request for comment .
Crucial Quote
“The email shows that Trang President Pugh knew the specific numbers of voter fraud were wrong, but continued to brag about them in court and in public,” Carter ruled.
What to Watch
The House Jan. 6 committee is expected to release the final report of its investigation by the end of the year (when the committee will disband), which includes Any findings from Eastman will be included. e-mail. As a congressional committee, lawmakers themselves cannot indict Trump or Eastman for any crime, but they can submit evidence of any crime to the Justice Department, which is separately investigating the attempt to overturn the 2020 election and can bring charges.
Key Background
Carter’s ruling Wednesday, the latest in a series of rulings he issued, ordered Eastman to turn over emails to The committee, a judge ruled in April that Trump’s attempt to overturn the election “more likely constitutes an attempt to obstruct the official process.” Eastman was directly involved in Trump’s post-election efforts, even speaking at a rally before the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, where he tried to block Congress and Vice President Mike Pence from the then-president. played a key role in the strategy as evidenced by the January 6 election results. The House committee on Jan. 6 claimed in its public hearing that Eastman asked Trump to pardon the president after the Jan. 6 attacks. The emails accusing Trump of knowingly signing false voter fraud numbers are consistent with evidence presented by the House committee at its public hearings that Trump knew and was repeatedly told his claims of election fraud were false, but he continued to push They are anyway. As numerous court rulings, state audits and analyses have found, there is no evidence to support claims of widespread electoral fraud in the 2020 election.
Further reading
Trump lawyer orders more emails to be handed over to Jan. 6 committee — including possible criminal evidence (Forbes )
Trump ‘more likely’ to unlawfully obstruct election, federal judge says (Forbes)
John Eastman is who? Attorney at Trump’s Jan. 6 Strategy Center. (Forbes)
January. 6 Hearings: Trump adviser Eastman asks for pardon after riots (Forbes)
