Fogbow

Judge rejects effort by Trump ally Eastman to sideline Jan. 6 committee subpoena
At issue are documents connected to John Eastman's work at Chapman University.
By KYLE CHENEY and NICHOLAS WU 01/24/2022 10:40 PM EST

A federal judge indicated Monday he will reject an urgent bid by John Eastman — the attorney who spearheaded Donald Trump’s effort to pressure Mike Pence to single-handedly overturn the 2020 election — to invalidate a subpoena issued last week by the Jan. 6 select committee to Chapman University, Eastman’s former employer. Instead, Judge David Carter ordered Eastman to work with the Jan. 6 panel to produce a log of documents that Eastman wants the university to withhold, citing a variety of confidentiality restrictions and privileges. “The Court expects that the parties will work together with the urgency that this case requires,” ruled Carter, who sits on the bench of the U.S. District Court or the Northern District of California, where Eastman filed suit. The ruling is the latest in a string of court victories for the Jan. 6 select committee, which is now slated to learn, perhaps this week, the general subjects of key documents that Eastman had hoped to shield from the panel. Carter ordered the committee and Eastman to file public progress reports on Wednesday and Friday and to reconvene a hearing next week.

The committee issued its subpoena to Chapman University on Jan. 18, demanding documents by Jan. 21. Eastman filed suit against the committee and the school on Jan. 20. He has also sued the panel in federal court in Washington to block a subpoena for his own testimony and records. Eastman was a central figure in Trump’s last-ditch effort to subvert the 2020 election, developing a legal strategy to pressure Pence to declare total authority to reject dozens of Joe Biden’s presidential electors. Under Eastman’s plan, Pence — who was constitutionally required to preside over the Jan. 6 counting of electoral votes — would simply refuse to count those from states Trump was contesting, throwing the result into doubt. But Pence refused to go along with the plan, drawing scorn from Trump and inflaming the crowd of Trump supporters who soon breached the Capitol, with many chanting “hang Mike Pence.”

In his order Monday, Carter said he intended to reject several of the key arguments Eastman put forward, including one claiming the committee lacks authority to issue its subpoena in the first place, as well as claims based on the First and Fourth Amendments. Eastman has also contended that many of the documents the committee is seeking would reveal attorney work product related to clients he worked with at Chapman University. “In his time at Chapman, Dr. Eastman practiced law in addition to his academic work. Dr. Eastman ran a law school clinic which provided legal representation to the public,” his attorney Charles Burnham argued in the lawsuit. “He also accepted pro bono and privately retained clients, especially those with cases relevant to his scholarly work.”

At the hearing Monday, Carter ordered the committee to publicly reveal correspondence it had with Eastman’s attorney. And the panel posted the short exchange that began in early November on the court’s docket late Monday. In the exchanges, committee investigator John Wood — a former Republican-appointed U.S. attorney from Missouri — indicated that Eastman had used an email account associated with Chapman University for “matters related to the election as late as January 2021.” Wood asked if Burnham could confirm that Eastman still had access to those emails and could produce them to the panel. “If not, we can send a subpoena to Chapman, but we thought it would be easier for everyone if it turns out we can get them from you and you are able to review them before producing them,” Wood wrote. Chapman University did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Eastman had previously indicated his intent to assert his Fifth Amendment rights on Steve Bannon’s “War Room” Podcast. Bannon himself refused to cooperate with the select committee. He has since been held in contempt of Congress and charged by the Justice Department.

Eastman has also contended that many of the documents the committee is seeking would reveal attorney work product related to clients he worked with at Chapman University. “In his time at Chapman, Dr. Eastman practiced law in addition to his academic work. Dr. Eastman ran a law school clinic which provided legal representation to the public,” his attorney Charles Burnham argued in the lawsuit. “He also accepted pro bono and privately retained clients, especially those with cases relevant to his scholarly work.”

(CNN)Right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones met virtually on Monday with the House select committee investigating the January 6 insurrection, he announced on his podcast.

A source familiar with the investigation also confirmed the meeting to CNN.

"I just had a very intense experience being interrogated by the January 6 committee," Jones said on his podcast on Monday. "They were polite, but they were dogged."

Jones said that, by his lawyer's count, he pleaded the Fifth Amendment "almost 100 times," and that he was told to do "on advice of counsel."


Jones said he was shown "a bunch of emails" that he had not seen before. He also said that the committee has gotten access to his phone because he was shown text messages from his phone, including messages with January 6 rally organizers Cindy Chafian and Caroline Wren, who also have been subpoenaed by the committee.

"They have everything that's already on my phones and things because I saw my text messages to Caroline Wren and Cindy Chafian and some of the event organizers," Jones said.

Kendra wrote: ↑Tue Jan 25, 2022 2:04 pm https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/25/politics ... index.html

"They have everything that's already on my phones and things because I saw my text messages to Caroline Wren and Cindy Chafian and some of the event organizers," Jones said.

"The questions were overall pretty reasonable," Jones said. "And I wanted to answer the questions, but at the same time, it's a good thing I didn't because I'm the type that tries to answer things correctly even though I don't know all the answers, and they can kind of claim that that's perjury because about half the questions I didn't know the answer to."

Federal prosecutors are reviewing fake Electoral College certifications that declared former President Donald Trump the winner of states that he lost, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco told CNN on Tuesday.

"We've received those referrals. Our prosecutors are looking at those and I can't say anything more on ongoing investigations," Monaco said in an exclusive interview.

* * *

Monaco did not go into detail about what else prosecutors are looking at from the partisan attempt to subvert the 2020 vote count. She said that, more broadly, the Justice Department was "going to follow the facts and the law, wherever they lead, to address conduct of any kind and at any level that is part of an assault on our democracy."

This is the first time that the Justice Department has commented on requests from lawmakers and state officials that the it investigate the fake certifications.

The lawyer for Chapman University, Fred Plevin, made it clear the school wasn’t interested in trying to help its former employee with this mess, saying it was “improper” for Eastman to use his Chapman account in his work for Trump.

Chapman’s lawyer, Fred Plevin, said Eastman was not authorized to represent Trump while on the university payroll because it would be considered against IRS rules governing nonprofits from engaging in political activity. Eastman did not teach at Chapman during the presidential election, but did some work for the law school clinic.

bob wrote: ↑Tue Jan 25, 2022 4:53 pm Not the J6 committee, but: CNN: Exclusive: Federal prosecutors looking at 2020 fake elector certifications, deputy attorney general tells CNN:

Federal prosecutors are reviewing fake Electoral College certifications that declared former President Donald Trump the winner of states that he lost, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco told CNN on Tuesday.

"We've received those referrals. Our prosecutors are looking at those and I can't say anything more on ongoing investigations," Monaco said in an exclusive interview.

* * *

Monaco did not go into detail about what else prosecutors are looking at from the partisan attempt to subvert the 2020 vote count. She said that, more broadly, the Justice Department was "going to follow the facts and the law, wherever they lead, to address conduct of any kind and at any level that is part of an assault on our democracy."

This is the first time that the Justice Department has commented on requests from lawmakers and state officials that the it investigate the fake certifications.

tek wrote: ↑Tue Jan 25, 2022 2:53 pm Alex Jones, about why he pled the fifth "about 100 times" during his visit:

"The questions were overall pretty reasonable," Jones said. "And I wanted to answer the questions, but at the same time, it's a good thing I didn't because I'm the type that tries to answer things correctly even though I don't know all the answers, and they can kind of claim that that's perjury because about half the questions I didn't know the answer to."

orlylicious wrote: ↑Tue Jan 25, 2022 1:09 am Isn't David Carter a dear friend of Orly Taitz? He had cases with her, didn't he? Was it Stern who went to school with him? (I miss Stern ) It's that Foggy-Orly-Stern-Carter NEXUS again!

Trumpers were SO EXCITED, that thought Eastman had VICTORY!

As always, Bob and others here called it. The Fogbow is spooky, like mindreaders and fortune-tellers here!

Very nice. As Realist might wisely say,

The early days of Seb Gorka's lawsuit against the Jan. 6 committee have not gone well.

First, he accidentally posted his personal phone # on the public docket and had to scramble to rescind it ...

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich's controversial weekend comment that the House January 6 Committee investigators could face jail time themselves if Republicans take over Congress came about two weeks after the panel subpoenaed his longtime former aide who also co-authored a book with him.

The select House committee investigating the US Capitol riot wants to speak with Ross Worthington, who worked in the Trump White House as an advisor for policy, strategy, and speechwriting.

In a January 10 letter to Worthington, the committee said that it believes he helped draft the January 6 speech Trump gave at the rally on the Ellipse in Washington before the lame duck president's supporters stormed the Capitol. The letter from Chairman Bennie Thompson, a Democrat from Mississippi, came with a subpoena that carries the force of law requiring Worthington's compliance.

Worthington served as a research director and lead writer for the media and communications firm Gingrich Productions before joining Trump's transition team that helped him prep for the White House in late 2016 and early 2017.

This might be hitting a little close to home for Gingrich and he is upset that his colleague has to deal with the January 6th commission," one former Republican leadership staffer told Insider in an email when asked about the connection between Gingrich and the Worthington subpoena.

On Fox News, Gingrich unleashed on Sunday on the committee and Attorney General Merrick Garland for acting like a "lynch mob" in their pursuit of "innocent people." He also warned that when Republicans win majorities in Congress the January 6 investigators are "going to I think face a real risk of jail for the kind of laws they're breaking."

Sources confirm to
@CNN

@ryanobles

@AnnieGrayerCNN

@ZcohenCNN
and me that former Mark Meadows aide Ben Williamson testified virtually in front of the 1/6. The interview was about 6-7 hours, we’re told

Rep. Jamie Raskin on Trump to CNN: "We have filled in a lot more evidence that he wasn't just inciting an insurrection, he was working to organize a coup against the democracy ... I can't imagine that the Dept. of Justice would not have evidence at this point to that effect."

Kendra wrote: ↑Wed Jan 26, 2022 10:38 am

The early days of Seb Gorka's lawsuit against the Jan. 6 committee have not gone well.

First, he accidentally posted his personal phone # on the public docket and had to scramble to rescind it ...

Raskin on Trump: "He wasn't just inciting in insurrection. He was working to organize a coup against the democracy in order to seize the presidency for another four years."

northland10 wrote: ↑Thu Jan 27, 2022 10:12 am

Kendra wrote: ↑Wed Jan 26, 2022 10:38 am

The early days of Seb Gorka's lawsuit against the Jan. 6 committee have not gone well.

First, he accidentally posted his personal phone # on the public docket and had to scramble to rescind it ...

Amateur. Orly posted her credit card number on a public docket.