January 6 Committee lays out possible criminal charges against Trump

WASHINGTON. The House Committee investigating the January 6 Capitol attack said on Wednesday there was enough evidence to conclude that former President Donald Trump and some of his allies may have conspired to scam and obstruct by misleading Americans about results. 2020 elections and an attempt to reverse the result.

In a civil lawsuit in California, the committee’s lawyers first outlined their version of a potential criminal case against the former president. They said they had amassed evidence suggesting that Mr Trump, conservative attorney John Eastman and other allies could potentially face criminal charges, including obstruction of a formal Congressional hearing and conspiracy to defraud the American people.

The statement also said the men may have violated the common law against fraud because of Mr. Trump’s repeated lies that the election was stolen.

Only a limited amount of new evidence was disclosed in the documentation, and the committee asked the civil judge to review the relevant material behind closed doors. In asserting possible criminality, the committee relied heavily on the extensive and detailed accounts already released of the actions taken by Mr. Trump and his allies to keep him in office after his defeat.

The committee added information from its more than 550 interviews with government officials, Justice Department officials and top Trump aides, among others. For example, it said that Jason Miller, Mr. Trump’s senior campaign adviser, said in committee testimony that shortly after Election Day, a campaign data expert told Mr. Trump “quite bluntly” that he was going to lose, suggesting that Mr. Trump was well aware that his months-long allegations of a stolen election were false.

The evidence gathered by the committee “provides, at a minimum, a good faith basis for concluding that President Trump violated” the hurdle count, according to a document written by Douglas N. Letter, House General Counsel, adding: “The select committee also has grounds for concluding in good faith that the President and members of his campaign were engaged in a criminal conspiracy to defraud the United States.”

The statement said that “viewing the materials may reveal that the president and members of his campaign have engaged in common law fraud in connection with their efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.”

Representatives for Mr Trump did not respond to requests for comment.

Charles Burnham, Mr Eastman’s attorney, said his client, like all lawyers, “has a responsibility to protect a client’s confidential information, even at great personal risk and expense.”

“The Selection Committee has responded to Dr. Eastman’s attempts to shirk this responsibility by accusing him of criminal conduct,” Mr Burnham said in a statement. “Because this is a civil matter, Dr. Eastman will not enjoy the benefit of the constitutional protections normally given to those accused by their government of criminal conduct. However, we look forward to a response in due course.”

The Democrat-controlled group is a legislative committee and does not have the power to charge the former president or anyone else with a crime.

But the document is the clearest indication of the committee’s direction, as it weighs in referring the criminal case to the Justice Department against Mr. Trump and his allies, a move that could put pressure on Attorney General Merrick B. Garland to take on the case. The Justice Department has said little on the merits about whether it can eventually file a case.

The filing outlined a broad, though by now well-established, version of a conspiracy to cancel the election, which included false allegations of electoral fraud, plans to field Trump-supporting “alternative” electors, pressure on various federal agencies to expose irregularities, and ultimately , push Vice President Mike Pence and Congress to use the Election Count Act to keep a losing president in office.

“Because the President and his associates have been spreading dangerous misinformation to the public,” the statement said, “Mr. Eastman “has been a leader in a related effort to persuade government officials to change their election results based on the same fraudulent claims.”

The lawsuit is based on a lawsuit filed by Mr Eastman who is trying to convince a judge to block the committee’s subpoena on documents in his possession, alleging a “grossly biased” invasion of his privacy. In January, the committee sent a subpoena to Mr. Eastman, citing a memo he wrote that outlined how Mr. Trump could use the vice president and Congress to try to invalidate the 2020 election results.

As part of the lawsuit, Mr. Eastman sought to protect documents he said were subject to attorney-client privilege from disclosure. In response, the committee argued—in line with a legal theory known as the crime and fraud exception—that the privilege did not extend to information given from a client to a lawyer if it was part of facilitating or covering up a crime.

Mr. Eastman then stated that the committee provided “no evidence” for the existence of an exception for the crime of fraud, prompting the committee to file a final suit.

“Evidence supports the conclusion that President Trump, the plaintiff, and several others entered into an agreement to defraud the United States by interfering with the election confirmation process, spreading false information about election fraud, and pressuring state officials to change the state’s election results. and federal officials. help with this,” the statement said.

He also cited a recent decision in a civil lawsuit in Washington, D.C., in which Judge Amit P. Mehta of the Federal District Court ruled that “it is plausible to believe that the president colluded with the rioters on January 1, 2019.” 6, 2021″.

Capitol Riot Aftermath: Key Events

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Lawyers were called. The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack subpoenaed half a dozen lawyers and other allies of former President Donald J. Trump who promoted false claims of widespread fraud in the 2020 election and worked to disprove his defeat.

First court. Guy Wesley Reffit, who is accused of obstructing the work of Congress on January 6, became the first defendant to stand trial in a case related to the Capitol riots. The trial, which began on February 28, will set the tone for dozens of other cases.

“In addition to legal efforts to delay certification, there is also evidence that the conspiracy extended to rioters involved in acts of violence at the Capitol,” the statement said.

On Tuesday, the California Bar Association announced that it was investigating Mr. Eastman for whether he engaged in behavior that violated California laws and ethical guidelines.

Mr. Eastman’s memo to Mr. Trump said Mr. Pence could reject electors from certain states. Mr. Eastman also attended a briefing for nearly 300 state legislators, during which he told the group it was their responsibility to “fix this, this egregious behavior, and make sure we don’t put some guy in the White House who doesn’t was elected,” the committee said in a statement.

He met with Mr. Trump and Mr. Pence to advance his case, attended a meeting of Trump’s advisers at the Willard Hotel, and spoke at the Stop Theft rally on the Ellipse on January 6 before the Capitol was stormed. When the violence broke out, he sent a message blaming Mr. Pence for not going along with his plan.

When the crowd attacked the Capitol chanting “Hang Mike Pence,” Mr. Eastman sent a hostile message to the Vice President’s chief counsel, accusing Mr. Pence of violence.

Siege is happening because YOU and your boss didn’t do what was necessary to show it publicly so the American people could see for themselves what happened,” he wrote to Greg Jacob, Pence’s boss. advice.

In a recent filing of his lawsuit, Mr. Eastman said Mr. Trump hired him “because of his voting rights and constitutional background” in the fall of 2020 for “federal litigation regarding the 2020 general presidential election, including election matters.” associated with the Electoral College.

On September 3, 2020 — two months before Mr. Trump lost the election — Mr. Eastman was invited by Trump’s lawyer, Cleta Mitchell, to join the Electoral Integrity Task Force to begin preparations for the expected post-election trial. Mr. Eastman said Mr. Trump asked Ms. Mitchell to make an effort in August.

The judge in the case has already denied Mr. Eastman’s request to protect nearly 19,000 emails from the committee, saying that Congressional investigators have the right to review messages and that the First Amendment does not protect his messages. Mr. Eastman has viewed about 8,000 emails so far.

Michael S. Schmidt and Maggie Haberman provided reporting.