A federal judge ruled Monday that former President Donald Trump and his attorney John Eastman may have planned a crime amid their efforts to disrupt the Jan. 6, 2021, congressional certification of the presidential election.
“Based on the evidence, the Court finds it more likely than not that President Trump corruptly attempted to obstruct the Joint Session of Congress on January 6, 2021,” Judge David Carter of the U.S. District Court of California Southern Division wrote Monday.
Carter ordered Eastman to hand over 101 emails stemming from around the time of the Jan. 6 riot that he had attempted to keep shielded from the House select committee investigating the incident.
TRUMP APPEALS JUDGE’S RULING OVER JAN. 6 LAWSUITS
“The illegality of the plan was obvious,” Carter wrote. “Our nation was founded on the peaceful transition of power, epitomized by George Washington laying down his sword to make way for democratic elections. Ignoring this history, President Trump vigorously campaigned for the Vice President to single-handedly determine the results of the 2020 election … Every American — and certainly the President of the United States — knows that in a democracy, leaders are elected, not installed.”
The judge’s decision marks one of the most stark acknowledgments by a court that the former president’s actions surrounding the Jan. 6 riot could be considered a criminal action, though Trump and Eastman have not been charged with any crime.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Eastman previously wrote two legal memos arguing then-Vice President Mike Pence had the legal ability to reject electoral votes or delay counting, a move that would have allowed Republican-led state legislators to cast votes for Trump despite more voters casting in favor of then-candidate Joe Biden.
Pence has widely dismissed the guidance as a tactic he could not invoke in his role as vice president, and numerous legal analysts have cast doubt over the validity of Eastman’s claims.
