They cannot hide behind the confidentiality of exchanges. On Monday, a US judge ruled that it was “more likely than not” that Donald Trump participated in a “conspiracy” to obstruct the certification of the 2020 presidential election. The magistrate therefore forced lawyer John Eastman to forward his emails to the congressional committee investigating the Capitol assault.
John Eastman is considered the architect of a controversial legal theory that Vice President Mike Pence had the authority to reject voters confirmed by half a dozen states, thus blocking the process of certification of election to Congress – a scenario that would have plunged the United States into an unprecedented constitutional crisis.
A possible indictment within the jurisdiction of the Department of Justice
John Eastman did not only play the consultants: he also addressed the crowd before Donald Trump’s speech on January 6, 2021. This former law professor at Chapman University in California refused to give a hundred emails exchanged with Donald Trump’s entourage, in particular Rudy Giuliani, at the end of 2020.
According to the judge, the confidentiality of exchanges between a lawyer and his client does not apply here for three main reasons: John Eastman did not provide proof showing that he had been officially hired for his services, he used his address university email, and most importantly, it cannot be invoked if a lawyer and his client are engaged in a conspiracy to break the law. “Given the evidence, it is more likely than not that President Trump attempted to corruptly obstruct the session of Congress on January 6, 2021,” the judge wrote.
Depending on what the emails reveal, the House committee investigating the Capitol assault could recommend criminal charges against Donald Trump. But the committee only has an advisory role. It is then Joe Biden’s justice department which should decide whether there is cause to charge the former American president.