A federal judge in California on Wednesday ruled in favor of the House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot and said he will review communications between lawyer John Eastman, former President Donald Trump and others to determine if they are protected by attorney-client privilege, Politico reports.
''After reading the emails, the Court will determine for each document whether any privilege existed, whether that privilege was waived, and whether any exceptions apply,'' Judge David O. Carter of the Central District of California indicated in a four-page order.
The committee has issued subpoenas in recent weeks to lawyers including Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell and Eastman, who the committee says might have engaged in criminal conspiracy with Trump to obstruct Congress.
Carter has repeatedly ruled in favor of the committee recently, ordering Eastman to review 90,000 pages of emails subpoenaed by the panel from Chapman University, his former employer.
He said he made the decision to review communications because the panel had shown that many of Eastman's contacts were likely third parties who have no privileged relationship with the lawyer.
''The Select Committee points to Dr. Eastman's January 3, 2021 memorandum to President Trump, which states, '[t]he main thing here is that Pence should do this without asking for permission — either from a vote of the joint session or from the Court,''' Carter noted.
''The Select Committee also suggests that these emails could relate to Dr. Eastman's non-litigation activities on behalf of President Trump, such as meeting with state legislators about certifying electors,'' he added.
''Dr. Eastman's privilege logs do not indicate what litigation was anticipated; the log entries simply state that emails were made considering 'possible litigation' or 'contemplating litigation.' This evidence sufficiently supports a reasonable belief that the emails may reveal that they were not created in anticipation of litigation.''
The panel on Tuesday laid out its theory for potential criminal charges against Trump, arguing before Carter that he and Eastman were involved in a conspiracy to perpetrate a fraud on the American public as part of a plan to overturn the 2020 presidential election won by Joe Biden.
''We're talking about an insurrection that sadly came very close to succeeding to overturn a presidential election,'' Douglas N. Letter, the general counsel of the House, told Carter during arguments in Eastman's case.
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.