A California-based federal judge ordered a legal adviser to President Trump to turn over records tied to Jan. 6 to the House committee investigating the attack, finding the communications were not protected since they likely were exchanged in furtherance of a crime.
Included in the emails is evidence that Trump pushed ahead in court with voter fraud claims he knew were inaccurate — details certain to be of interest to the House select committee.
Judge David Carter ordered John Eastman, who crafted two memos for the Trump campaign detailing methods to resist certifying President Biden’s victory, to turn over some 33 documents to the House panel.
That includes eight documents the judge said related to crimes of obstructing an official proceeding and conspiracy to defraud the United States.
Carter previously found in March that it was more likely than not that Trump committed crimes as part of his plot to stay in power.
Wednesday’s ruling highlights an email among Trump’s lawyers specifically related to conspiracy to defraud.
One email from Eastman notes Trump was told that a December suit filed in Georgia claiming that unregistered voters and dead people voted in the election there may not have accurate numbers — relaying that concern before the campaign escalated the matter to a federal court.
“Although the President signed a verification for [the state court filing] back on Dec. 1, he has since been made aware that some of the allegations (and evidence proffered by the experts) has been inaccurate. For him to sign a new verification with that knowledge (and incorporation by reference) would not be accurate,” Eastman said.
“President Trump and his attorneys ultimately filed the complaint with the same inaccurate numbers without rectifying, clarifying, or otherwise changing them,” Carter wrote. “President Trump, moreover, signed a verification swearing under oath that the incorporated, inaccurate numbers ‘are true and correct’ or ‘believed to be true and correct to the best of his knowledge and belief.’”
“The emails show that President Trump knew that the specific numbers of voter fraud were wrong but continued to tout those numbers, both in court and to the public. The Court finds that these emails are sufficiently related to and in furtherance of a conspiracy to defraud the United States.”
The ruling likewise notes that four emails from Eastman and other attorneys “suggest that — irrespective of the merits — the primary goal of filing is to delay or otherwise disrupt the January 6 vote.”
One such email claimed that having litigation before the Supreme Court could aid the campaign’s efforts in Georgia.
“This email, read in context with other documents in this review, make clear that President Trump filed certain lawsuits not to obtain legal relief, but to disrupt or delay the January 6 congressional proceedings through the courts,” Carter wrote.
The ruling from the court — and the emails about Trump’s knowledge ahead of court activity — comes shortly after the House committee held its likely final hearing, dedicating much of its time to share new evidence that Trump knew he lost the 2020 election.
The presentation included new testimony from former aides to Trump, including Alyssa Farah Griffin, the former White House director of strategic communications, who said she entered the Oval Office after the election to hear Trump say, “Can you believe I lost to this effing guy?”
The committee also offered new details about the extent Trump planned to claim he had won the 2020 contest on election night regardless of the results, including testimony from former campaign manager Brad Parscale that he planned to do so as far back as July.
Updated at 4:06 p.m.