"Trump and right-wing lawyer were part of 'criminal conspiracy' to overturn 2020 election, January 6 committee alleges
Former President Donald Trump and a right-wing lawyer were part of a "criminal conspiracy" to overturn the 2020 presidential election, the House select committee investigating the January 6 Capitol riot alleges in a court filing Wednesday.
The filing is part of an attempt to convince a judge to allow the panel access to emails from lawyer John Eastman, who is claiming attorney-client privilege. The committee said he helped to orchestrate the plot.
The filing is the most extensive release to date from the House's January 6 investigators as they try to obtain Eastman's emails -- and comes well before the House select committee releases its final report on its findings on Trump. House members have also signaled they may make a criminal referral to the Justice Department about Trump, depending on their findings, and the House's arguments Wednesday could be seen as a preview of a case that could be made by federal prosecutors.
In the 61-page court filing on Wednesday, lawyers for the House wrote: "Evidence and information available to the Committee establishes a good-faith belief that Mr. Trump and others may have engaged in criminal and/or fraudulent acts, and that Plaintiff's legal assistance was used in furtherance of those activities."
