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Trump Attorney John Eastman Pleads The Fifth Before January 6 Committee

WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 06: Pro-Trump supporters storm the U.S. Capitol following a rally with President Donald Trump on January 6, 2021 in Washington, DC. Trump supporters gathered in the nation's capital today to protest the ratification of President-elect Joe Biden's Electoral College victory over President Trump in the 2020 election. (Photo by Samuel Corum/Getty Images)

John Eastman, the attorney who helped former President Donald Trump pressure former Vice President Mike Pence to overturn the 2020 election, has pleaded his fifth amendment right against self-incrimination before the House Selection Commission on the January 6 Capitol riot.

Eastman’s attorney Charles Burnham said in a letter to Chair Bennie Thompson (D-Mississippi): “Dr. Eastman hereby asserts his Fifth Amendment right not to be a witness against himself in response to your subpoena.”

Eastman met with Trump and pushed state legislative leaders to reject Joe Biden‘s victory in a handful of swing states and then appoint alternative electors to the electoral college to deny Biden’s victory. Eastman also spoke at Trump’s January 6 rally.

Eastman is now the second known Jan 6 committee witness to plead the fifth.

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