Capitol Assault Panel Accuses Trump and His Allies of Possible 'Criminal Conspiracy'

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Former President Donald Trump and a right-wing lawyer were part of a “criminal conspiracy” to annul the presidential elections of 2020, as alleged by the select committee of the House of Representatives investigating the storming the Capitol on January 6, in a court filing on Wednesday, according to CNN.

The filing is part of an attempt to convince a judge to allow the panel to access the emails of attorney John Eastman, who claims the privilege attorney-client. The committee says Eastman helped orchestrate the plot.

Lawyers for the House panel investigating the January 6 attack 2021 to Capitol Hill said in the court filing that former President Donald Trump and several of his key allies were involved in two possible crimes during his effort to nullify the elections of 2021: conspiring to defraud the United States and obstruct an official congressional proceeding: the electoral vote count, according to The Washington Post.

The presentation also says that both Donald Trump and his allies p could have violated a common law statute against fraud

through Trump’s repeated lies that the elections had been stolen.

The alleged criminal acts were raised by the committee in a civil case in California federal court that challenged conservative attorney John Eastman’s refusal to release thousands of emails the panel requested and that are related to his role in trying to persuade Vice President Mike Pence to turn away voters from states won by Joe Biden. Eastman has cited attorney-client privilege as a shield against document service.

The committee argued in that filing that the claim of privilege of Eastman was annulled by the “criminal fraud exception” to the confidentiality that is generally granted to lawyers and their clients.

“The Committee Selecto also has a good faith basis to conclude that the president and members of his campaign participated in a criminal conspiracy to defraud the United States,” according to the filing.

The court filing is the committee’s strongest claim yet that it believes Trump and some of his allies potentially committed crimes during the effort to nullify Biden’s victory and by repeatedly falsely claiming that the election was stolen.

“The facts we have gathered strongly suggest that the couriers Dr. Eastman’s electronic files may show that he helped Donald Trump promote a corrupt scheme to obstruct the counting of ballots and a conspiracy to prevent the transfer of power,” said committee chairman Bennie G. Thompson (D-Miss. .) and Vice President Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), in a statement.

The facts we’ve gathered strongly suggest that Dr. Eastman’s emails may show that he helped Donald Trump advance a corrupt scheme to obstruct the counting of electoral college ballots and a conspiracy to impede the transfer of power.

— January 6th Committee (@January6thCmte) March 3 , 2022

The committee does not have the authority to initiate criminal proceedings, and the fact that the panel mentioned possible violations of criminal law in a court filing does not provide any indication that the Department of Justice will consider any prosecution.

Nor does it mean that the attorney-client protection asserted by Eastman is not will hold.

Eastman and Trump have not been charged with any crimes by federal prosecutors or state, and none of Trump’s top advisers have been accused of crimes related to January 6.

But underlines the aggressive approach and effort of the committee to hold Trump and his allies accountable for their actions before and on January 6, 2021, which panel members have charged as an attack on American democracy.

The committee’s report not only makes the case against Eastman’s assertion of the privilege of attorney client, but also provides a review of the committee’s findings to date,

including the belief panel that Trump and his advisers may have been involved in a criminal conspiracy to overturn the election results of 2020.

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