John Eastman reveals Trump took a direct role in developing legal strategy to overturn election loss

John Eastman revealed Friday in a court filing that he routinely communicated with Donald Trump either directly or through "six conduits" in the weeks ahead of the Jan. 6 insurrection.

The right-wing attorney asked a federal judge to maintain attorney-client privilege over his work for the former president, and the late-night filing gave the clearest view yet of the communications between Trump and the battalion of attorneys and allies helping his effort to remain in power despite losing the election, reported Politico.

The filing shows Trump took a direct role in those efforts, describing “two hand-written notes from former President Trump about information that he thought might be useful for the anticipated litigation," which Eastman is looking to shield, and the attorney also said he spoke directly to the former president about legal challenges in states he lost.

Eastman wants to prevent the House select committee from obtaining 600 emails related to his so-called "coup memo," which sought to enlist Mike Pence and GOP-led state legislatures to overturn the 2020 election outcome, and he also asked U.S. District Court Judge David Carter of California to shield his contacts with state legislators to discuss appointing pro-Trump electors in state Joe Biden had won.

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The filing does not identify the White House officials and attorneys he communicated with during that period, but some of those attorneys -- including Kurt Olsen and Bruce Marks -- filed declarations supporting Eastman's claims about his work for Trump.

Eastman also reveals that he exchanged a dozen emails with Fox News host Mark Levin, whom he doesn't identify by name but whom he describes as “an individual who, in addition to his role as a radio talk show host, is also an attorney, former long-time President (and current board Chairman) of a public interest law firm, and also a former fellow at The Claremont Institute.”