John Eastman brought 'coup' plot to Trump a month before Jan. 6: analysis

A new batch of documents John Eastman is turning over to the House select committee shows the Jan. 6 plot was conceived at least a month earlier.

U.S. District Court Judge David Carter ordered the right-wing attorney to turn over emails and other documents to the panel after finding they did not fall under attorney-client privilege, and MSNBC's Steve Benen said the ruling showed a plan to disrupt the Joint Session of Congress was fully formed and ready to go as early as Dec. 7, 2020.

"Well, that’s new," Benen wrote. "To be sure, we knew that Trump, Eastman, and their allies plotted against a joint session of Congress, when lawmakers were tasked with certifying the results of the 2020 election. What these new revelations suggest is that the plot was 'fully formed' much earlier than previously known."

In fact, Eastman had joined the Trump campaign's legal team only the day before, so he evidently brought the "coup" plan with him, and he spent the next month engaged in what appears to be a criminal conspiracy to deprive millions of Americans of their vote for Joe Biden and keep the former president in office.

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"Well, sure, when you put it that way, it sounds bad," Benen wrote.

"Of course, all of this comes in advance of the Jan. 6 committee’s public hearings, which begin in earnest tomorrow night," he added. "The fact that these Eastman materials are reaching Capitol Hill for review before the prime-time event is no doubt good news for investigators."