‘CRIME-FRAUD EXCEPTION’

Trump Attorney John Eastman Ordered to Hand Over Batch of Emails and Documents to the Jan. 6 Committee

Among the 159 documents in the Trump lawyer’s possession is an email said to provide evidence of a likely crime.

MAGA lawyer John Eastman has been ordered by a federal judge to hand over a large batch of emails and documents to the Jan. 6 select committee, including an email said to provide evidence of a likely crime. Eastman was the attorney who advised Donald Trump on how to overturn the results of the 2020 election, a campaign that ended in the Jan. 6 Capitol riots. Eastman has argued that documents sought by the House committee are protected by privilege, but U.S. District Court Judge David Carter disagreed, ruling late Tuesday that Eastman should hand over 159 emails and documents by 5 p.m. Wednesday. Among them is a Dec. 22, 2020, email in which an unnamed attorney advised Trump not to pursue a court battle because defeat would “tank the January 6 strategy.” Carter said that email “cemented the direction of the January 6 plan.” He added: “Lawyers are free not to bring cases; they are not free to evade judicial review to overturn a democratic election. Accordingly, this portion of the email is subject to the crime-fraud exception and must be disclosed.”