John Eastman ordered to give more emails to Jan. 6 Capitol riot probe

A federal judge ordered attorney John Eastman on Wednesday to turn over multiple documents to the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, including emails allegedly showing efforts by him and former President Donald Trump to disrupt Congress’ confirmation of Trump’s 2020 election loss.

The 33 documents that must be handed over are either not protected by legal privileges, or are exempted from those privileges because they are related to an attempted crime, Judge David Carter wrote.

Eight of Eastman’s emails were subject to that “crime-fraud exception,” according to the order in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana, California.

In four of them, Eastman and other Trump attorneys suggest that a “primary goal” of a court filing “is to delay or otherwise disrupt” the Jan. 6, 2021, congressional vote to confirm President Joe Biden’s electoral victory, the judge ruled.

Another four emails “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,” 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,” Carter wrote.

“The Court finds that these emails are sufficiently related to and in furtherance of a conspiracy to defraud the United States,” the judge wrote.

Lawyers for Eastman did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment on Carter’s order. A spokesman for the Jan. 6 committee did not immediately comment.

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