A US judge considers it “likely” that Trump committed serious crimes in the attack on Capitol Hill

Donald Trump, during a rally on Sunday, March 27 in Georgia. HYOSUB SHIN / AJC (AP)

A US federal judge on Monday ordered John Eastman, one of the lawyers who advised Donald Trump to try to reverse the 2020 election result, to deliver more than a hundred emails to the House of Representatives Committee that investigates the assault on the Capitol.

Judge David Carter also emphasizes that based on the evidence available to him, the court considers it more than likely that "President Trump and Mr. Eastman conspired" to prevent the certification of votes in the US Congress, that the On January 6, 2021, Democrat Joe Biden was to be declared the winner.

Judge Carter's landmark ruling paves the way for the House Committee to obtain emails from Eastman that he deemed confidential and therefore withheld when he provided thousands of pages of electronic communications to the investigative body in mid-February.

“The illegality of the plan was obvious,” Judge Carter writes in his ruling.

"Our nation was founded on the peaceful transition of power, epitomized by George Washington laying down his sword to make way for democratic elections," says the magistrate.

"Ignoring this story, President Trump campaigned heavily for the vice president to decide the outcome of the 2020 election," he adds.

Before turning over the nearly 8,000 pages of emails, Eastman had refused to provide information to the House when it called him directly to testify and produce documents.

The lawyer took refuge under the protection afforded by the US Fifth Amendment against self-incrimination.

Eastman is a law professor who helped craft Trump's bogus argument that the 2020 election was a fraud, and that the real winner was the then president.

Among the emails the judge ordered Eastman to turn over were messages sent to him by Trump's personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, recommending that Mike Pence, then vice president, nullify the election and devise a daily plan of action leading up to the 6th. from January.

The Committee created by the president of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, claims to have found evidence showing that Trump, Eastman and other allies of the former president's cause could potentially be charged with criminal charges, including obstruction of an official congressional proceeding. and conspiracy to defraud the American people.

The investigative commission — made up of seven Democrats and two Republicans — does not have the power to file criminal charges, but it can collect evidence of a possible crime and recommend that the Justice Department act.

That department is conducting an investigation into the Capitol assault but has given no public indication that it is considering pursuing a criminal case against Trump.

Eastman is a central figure in the House committee investigation, having written two legal briefs arguing that then-Vice President Mike Pence had the authority to unilaterally reject electoral votes or delay their recount.

This could have opened the door for Republican-led state chambers to vote for Trump, despite more voters voting for Joe Biden, and thus reverse the November 3 election result.

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