House investigators obtain emails from Trump 'coup lawyer' John Eastman: report
On Tuesday, CNN reported that investigators on the House January 6 Committee have obtained the emails from pro-Trump attorney John Eastman that he had sought to keep secret.
This comes after a ruling from a Federal District Judge David Carter that Eastman's correspondence with Trump is not covered by attorney-client privilege — a ruling in which Carter also stated it was likely that Trump had committed criminal obstruction of Congress.
"One email, a draft memo for Rudy Giuliani, was obtained by the committee because the judge decided it was potentially being used to plan a crime. The memo recommended that then-Vice President Mike Pence reject some states' electors during the January 6 congressional meeting," reported Katelyn Polantz and Paul LeBlanc. "'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."
"The select committee's efforts to obtain Eastman's emails had been closely watched in the legal community because of the panel's bold move to accuse Eastman and Trump of criminal conspiracy. The House said it believed Trump had been trying to obstruct Congress and to defraud the government by blocking his loss of the election and discussing it with Eastman," noted the report. "Still, neither Trump nor Eastman has been charged with any crimes. Further, despite the House's filings, lawmakers aren't prosecutors and can't bring charges."
Eastman was a central role in the plot to overturn the election. He drafted the infamous "coup memo" outlining a plan whereby Republican legislators in states that voted for Joe Biden would submit "alternate" electors for Trump, and former Vice President Mike Pence would declare the legitimate electors from these states invalid and throw the election to the House, where Republicans controlled enough delegations to swing the result to Trump.
Pence believed this plan was illegal and refused to go forward with it. Eastman, who has since tried to distance himself from the memo, also faces investigation by the California State Bar.
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