Trump ‘More Likely Than Not’ Committed Crimes In Election Scheme, Federal Judge Says

A federal judge ruled Monday that former President Donald Trump and his lawyer John Eastman were probably planning to commit a crime as they tried to block the certification of President Joe Biden‘s win during the joint session of Congress on January 6, 2021.

U.S. District Court Judge David Carter wrote a 44-page decision rejecting Eastman’s claim to attorney-client privilege over 101 records and sending them to the House committee investigating the January 6 Capitol attack. There was just one document he deemed to fall under attorney-client privilege if it had not been under crime-fraud exception.

He called it “more likely than not” that Trump and Eastman took part in criminal conduct.

“If Dr. Eastman and President Trump’s plan had worked, it would have permanently ended the peaceful transition of power, undermining American democracy and the Constitution,” Carter wrote.

He also called on the Justice Department to investigate what happened that day more intensely.

“If the country does not commit to investigating and pursuing accountability for those responsible, the Court fears January 6 will repeat itself,” he wrote.

Attorney General Merrick Garland vowed to look into potential legal violations but has not signaled that the department would probe Trump or the people close to him about their roles that day.

Carter said that evidence supported that Trump most likely committed obstruction of an official proceeding and the conspiracy to defraud the United States.

Though the ruling was in response to Eastman’s argument that subpoenaed documents should remain confidential, it marked the first time a federal judge found evidence that Trump unlawfully made efforts to stay in power.