“The court finds that these four documents are sufficiently related to and contribute to the crime of obstruction,” the California-based Carter wrote.
According to Carter, a Dec. 4 filing by Trump and his lawyers in a Georgia court alleges that Fulton County incorrectly counted more than 10,000 ballots from the dead, felons and unregistered voters. They then moved the process to federal court and discussed whether to use the same statistics in that filing. In private communications, Trump’s lawyers noted that the then-president refused to sign documents containing “specific numbers.” On Dec. 31, Eastman emailed other Trump lawyers saying the figures submitted to the state court were inaccurate.
“Although the President signed a certificate [the state court filing] Back on Dec. 1, he had realized that some of the allegations (and the evidence provided by the experts) were inaccurate,” Eastman wrote in an email to colleagues. “Having him sign a new verification with that knowledge ( and incorporated by reference) are inaccurate. “
Trump and his lawyers, however, opted to file a federal complaint using the same numbers that Eastman admits were inaccurate.
Carter, the presidential appointee, added: “Furthermore, President Trump has signed a sworn affidavit that, to the best of his knowledge and belief, the combined, inaccurate figures ‘are true and correct’ or ‘believed to be true and true’. Right’.” Bill Clinton. “These emails show that President Trump knew the specific numbers of voter fraud were wrong but continued to brag about them in court and in public. The court held that the emails were sufficiently related to a conspiracy to defraud the United States and facilitated conspiracy.”
A spokesman for Trump and a lawyer for Eastman did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Carter’s ruling armed in January. 6 The select committee provided another trove of evidence to support its investigation into Trump’s attempts to subvert the 2020 election. Eastman’s emails are part of thousands kept by Eastman’s former employer, Chapman University. The select committee subpoenaed Chapman in January to obtain the emails, and Eastman sued to prevent their release.
The judge’s latest decision could also provide a legal basis for an ongoing criminal investigation by the Justice Department and prosecutors in Fulton County, Georgia, into efforts by Trump and his allies to overturn the election. It’s not clear if those investigators had access to the disputed emails, but if they didn’t, Carter’s latest ruling has put some of the emails in public records and made them easily accessible to others.
Carter, who presides over the Eastman lawsuit, has become a key figure in helping the special committee’s efforts. This spring, he issued his ruling, sending thousands of pages of Eastman emails to Congress. In his March 28 ruling, Trump and Eastman “probably” conspired to commit a felony obstruction charge, which has become a regular part of the select committee’s public hearings.
At the time, the committee decided not to request more information on Eastman, but recently urged Carter to review additional sets of information that had not been disclosed. Carter agreed that most of the emails sought by the select committee were appropriately designated attorney-client privilege or attorney work product privilege. However, he said another 33 people should be referred to the select committee – including the four who are privileged but fall under the “criminal fraud exception”.
Eastman was central to Trump’s efforts to pressure his then-Vice President Mike Pence to single-handedly prevent Congress from ratifying Joe Biden. He fought Pence’s lawyers even as violence destroyed the Capitol.
In emails disclosed by Carter on Wednesday, a lawyer for Trump suggested using the pending lawsuit to force a delay in counting the electoral votes.
“Merely having this case pending in the Supreme Court, rather than a ruling, may be enough to delay consideration of Georgia,” one of Trump’s lawyers wrote in an email cited by Carter.
“This email, read in conjunction with other documents in this review, makes it clear that President Trump brought certain lawsuits not to obtain legal relief but to disrupt or delay the Jan. 6 congressional proceedings through the courts, ‘ Carter ruled.