In an 18-page opinion and order released Wednesday, U.S. District Judge David Carter said the emails from former Chapman University law professor John Eastman must be turned over because they show Trump “knew that certain voter numbers it was wrong, but he continued. to advertise these numbers, both to the court and to the public.’ Eastman has been fighting for months to prevent the select committee from obtaining emails related to his involvement in Trump’s bid to overturn the results of the 2020 election and remain in the White House against the wishes of US voters. The law professor had argued that the messages were protected by attorney-client privilege. The California ruling acknowledged that some emails were protected, but said others should go to Congress because they were likely evidence and “sufficiently related to and in furtherance of the crime of obstruction.” Judge Carter wrote that four of the emails “demonstrate an effort by President Trump and his lawyers to make false claims in federal court to delay the Jan. 6 vote,” including claims filed as part of a lawsuit in Georgia. He describes the emails as containing Mr. Trump’s “concerns,” as Mr. Eastman relayed, that “specific numbers” should be included in a signed statement to be filed in court. The law professor had his own concerns, writing to other Trump campaign officials that the numbers previously relied on in a state lawsuit were inaccurate and should not be used when the case moves to federal court. “Although the President signed a verification for [the state court filing] on Dec. 1, has since been informed that some of the claims (and the evidence provided by the experts) were inaccurate,” Mr. Eastman wrote in an email at issue. “To sign a new verification with this knowledge (and incorporation by reference) would not be accurate.” Mr. Trump and his campaign would rely on the numbers anyway. “President Trump and his lawyers ultimately filed the complaint with the same inaccurate numbers without correcting, clarifying or otherwise changing them. “President Trump further signed an affidavit verifying that the incorporated, inaccurate numbers ‘are true and correct’ or ‘believed to be true and correct’ to the best of the judge’s knowledge and belief,” the judge said in his ruling. Taken together, the messages had to be disclosed because they “sufficiently relate to and further a conspiracy to defraud the United States,” according to the ruling. The California decision could affect investigations into Mr. Trump’s election efforts by prosecutors in the Justice Department and in Georgia. The Independent has contacted Trump and Eastman for comment. Elsewhere in Wednesday’s hearing, the court said the emails revealed the Trump campaign was using lawsuits to try to stop official acceptance of the 2020 election results. Judge Carter pointed to an email where a Trump lawyer said: “Just having this case pending before the Supreme Court, without a ruling, may be enough to delay Georgia’s consideration.” “This email, read in conjunction with other documents in this review, makes it clear that President Trump filed certain lawsuits not to obtain legal relief, but to stop or delay the January 6th congressional proceedings through the courts.” , the judge’s decision states.
