A federal judge has ordered John Eastman, a former attorney for former President Donald Trump, to turn over a number of emails to the House Jan. 6 Committee. The judge determined that some of the emails showed that Trump had signed documents he knew to be false.
Eastman asserted that emails from an account he used while he was dean at Chapman University are covered by either attorney-client and/or work product privilege. Carter was reviewing the emails that the Jan. 6 Committee has sought from this university email account to see whether the privilege assertions apply.
Carter, a nominee of President Bill Clinton, determined that out of 536 documents protected by attorney-client or work-product privilege, eight of those documents should be disclosed under the “crime-fraud exception,” which extinguishes both attorney-client and work-product privileges. He ordered these to be turned over to the Jan. 6 Committee.
Per the court document: “The crime-fraud exception applies when (1) a ‘client consults an attorney for advice that will serve [them] in the commission of a fraud or crime,’ and (2) the communications are ’sufficiently related to‘ and were made ’in furtherance of‘ the crime.’”
Carter said the exception applies “only to documents and communications that were themselves in furtherance of illegal or fraudulent conduct.”
Four of the eight emails were documents “in which Dr. Eastman and other attorneys suggest that—irrespective of the merits—the primary goal of filing [lawsuits] is to delay or otherwise disrupt the January 6 vote,” Carter wrote, adding, “The Court finds that these four documents are sufficiently related to and in furtherance of the obstruction crime.”
Another four emails, Carter wrote, “demonstrate an effort by President Trump and his attorneys to press false claims in federal court for the purpose of delaying the January 6 vote.”
“The evidence confirms that this effort was undertaken in at least one lawsuit filed in Georgia,” the judge added.
Specifically, Carter cited allegations from Trump’s attorneys on Dec. 4, 2020, in Georgia state court that Fulton County in Georgia had improperly counted “a number of votes including 10,315 deceased people, 2,560 felons, and 2,423 unregistered voters.”
Carter cited an email Eastman sent Dec. 31, 2020, telling Trump’s attorneys that Trump had since Dec. 1, 2020 “been made aware that some of the allegations (and evidence proffered by the experts)” in the Dec. 1, 2020, Georgia filing “has been inaccurate.”
Eastman added: “For him [Trump] to sign a new verification with that knowledge (and incorporation by reference) would not be accurate.”
Carter noted that after the message from Eastman, Trump and his attorneys still proceeded to file another legal complaint that had “the same inaccurate numbers“ and ”without rectifying, clarifying, or otherwise changing them.”
“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,” Carter wrote.
“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 judge said in his order.
“The Court finds that these emails are sufficiently related to and in furtherance of a conspiracy to defraud the United States. Accordingly, the Court orders Dr. Eastman to disclose these four communications to the Select Committee.”
Representatives for Trump and Eastman did not immediately respond to requests for comment when reached by The Associated Press.
