DOJ is working as hard as the Jan. 6 committee, maybe harder, and could use more help from them [View all]

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Last edited Fri Jun 10, 2022, 08:29 PM - Edit history (1)

...new court filings in John Eastman vs. Benny Thompson (Jan. 6 committee chairman) seek to obtain republican Sen. Mike Lee's texts between Mark Meadows and others plotting to keep Biden's victory from being certified in Congress which he's argued are privileged. Some of the communications have been denied House investigators by the court; others have not.

DOJ is seeking the same documents and others through their own subpoenas issued by grand juries set up in their ongoing investigations into the Jan. 6 insurrection, even as they prosecute the more than 840 arrests in nearly all 50 states and the District of Columbia they've made so far.

Approximately 185 federal defendants have had their cases adjudicated and received sentences for their criminal activity on Jan. 6. Approximately 80 have been sentenced to periods of incarceration. Approximately 57 other defendants have been sentenced to a period of home detention..
https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/17-months-jan-6-attack-capitol

Some key points surrounding the John Eastman emails:


Kyle Griffin @kylegriffin1 15m
New court filings raise questions about Republican Mike Lee's involvement in election subversion efforts:

Leaked texts suggest Lee was a participant in the plot to keep Trump in office — and court documents could now prove problematic for Lee's defense.

Leaked text messages between Utah Sen. Mike Lee and former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows suggest Lee was a participant in the plot to keep Donald Trump in office... Recently released court documents could prove problematic for Lee’s defense.

Recently filed court papers from the Jan. 6 select committee contain an email from John Eastman, who was guiding Trump’s efforts to overturn the election, that cast some doubt on Lee’s explanation. Eastman was trying to shield 159 emails from the committee but was ordered by a federal judge to turn over those documents on Tuesday.

On December 8, Lee texted Meadows, “If a very small handful of states were to have their legislatures appoint alternative slates of delegates, there could be a path.”

If states had sent competing slates of electors to Congress, Eastman’s scheme alleged that then-Vice President Mike Pence had the authority to determine which slates would count. Or, as Eastman claimed, Pence could throw out all electoral votes from that state, which could throw the election to the House of Representatives or delay the certification to give state legislators more time to act.

On Jan. 3, 2021, Lee texted Meadows several times, stressing the need for action by state legislators...

https://www.sltrib.com/news/politics/2022/06/09/new-court-filings-raise/

DOJ wrote to the Jan. 6 committee in April requesting their witness transcripts and depositions:

Legal experts believe the US Justice Department has made headway with an important criminal inquiry and could be homing in on top Trump lawyers who plotted to overturn Joe Biden’s election, after the department wrote to the House panel investigating the January 6 Capitol attack seeking transcripts of witness depositions and interviews.

While it’s unclear exactly what information the DoJ asked for, former prosecutors note that the 20 April request occurred at about the same time a Washington DC grand jury issued subpoenas seeking information about several Trump lawyers including Rudy Giuliani and John Eastman, plus other Trump advisers, who reportedly played roles in a fake electors scheme.

In replying to the justice department’s letter, the January 6 panel chair Bennie Thompson stressed that the committee’s inquiry is continuing and that “we told them that as a committee, the product was ours, and we’re not giving anyone access to the work product … we can’t give them unilateral access” and called the DoJ request “premature.”

But Thompson also told reporters last month the committee may allow some materials requested to be reviewed in the panel’s offices.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/jun/03/us-justice-department-trump-lawyers-criminal-inquiry

...another report of the DOJ's requests of the House:

May 17 - Federal prosecutors have asked the House of Representatives committee investigating the 6 January 2021 attack on the Capitol to provide transcripts of witness interviews and depositions taken by committee members and staff, according to a New York Times report.

A “person with knowledge of the matter” told the Times committee chairman Bennie Thompson has not reached any agreement with Attorney General Merrick Garland or other Justice Department officials regarding what, if any, documents will be provided.

But the department has been in communication with the panel since 20 April.

Because the select committee — which has interviewed over 1,000 witnesses — has spoken to many of the planners involved in Mr Trump’s efforts and involved in planning the rally which proceeded the riot, obtaining transcripts of the depositions and interviews would allow prosecutors to skip conducting interviews of their own and present the documents as evidence to a grand jury.

https://currently.att.yahoo.com/att/justice-department-asked-jan-6-211055700.html

Judge David O. Carter has further ordered that the House get more John Eastman emails, including electors discussions and other planning:

Jun. 8 - A federal judge has decided the House select committee investigating the January 6 insurrection should get access this month to 159 emails of right-wing attorney John Eastman that largely relate to his efforts on behalf of Donald Trump to try to block the 2020 election result.

The judge — as he did previously related to another set of Eastman emails — decided one of the emails could be evidence of the planning of a crime, specifically Eastman and Trump’s efforts to thwart Congress certifying the election result on January 6, 2021.

“Dr. Eastman’s actions in these few weeks indicate that his and President Trump’s pressure campaign to stop the electoral count did not end with Vice President Pence — it targeted every tier of federal and state elected officials. Convincing state legislatures to certify competing electors was essential to stop the count and ensure President Trump’s reelection,” Carter, of the Central District of California federal court, wrote on Tuesday night.

Carter separately says some emails illuminate how Eastman and others discussed avoiding a post-election court decision that would hurt their plan to convince Vice President Mike Pence to block Biden’s electoral college win.

“Dr. Eastman and President Trump’s plan to stop the count was not only established by early December, it was the ultimate goal that the legal team was working to protect from that point forward,” Carter wrote.

https://krdo.com/politics/cnn-us-politics/2022/06/08/house-to-get-more-eastman-emails-on-eve-of-first-january-6-hearing-including-electors-discussions-and-other-planning/

DOJ's has set up grand juries which have made identical subpoenas for many of the same documents as the House panel, for Eastman and others:

The Justice Department has stepped up its criminal investigation into the creation of alternate slates of pro-Trump electors seeking to overturn Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s victory in the 2020 election, with a particular focus on a team of lawyers that worked on behalf of President Donald J. Trump, according to people familiar with the matter.

A federal grand jury in Washington has started issuing subpoenas in recent weeks to people linked to the alternate elector plan, requesting information about several lawyers including Mr. Trump’s personal lawyer Rudolph W. Giuliani and one of his chief legal advisers, John Eastman, one of the people said.

The subpoenas also seek information on other pro-Trump lawyers like Jenna Ellis, who worked with Mr. Giuliani, and Kenneth Chesebro, who wrote memos supporting the elector scheme in the weeks after the election.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/25/us/politics/pro-trump-lawyers-elector-scheme.html

DOJ has been unraveling the claims of privilege and seeking documents and other communications in court since at least January:

Jan. 25 — The Justice Department is investigating the fake slates of electors that falsely declared Donald J. Trump the victor of the 2020 election in seven swing states that Joseph R. Biden Jr. had in fact won, a top agency official said on Tuesday.

“Our prosecutors are looking at those, and I can’t say anything more on ongoing investigations,” Lisa O. Monaco, the deputy attorney general, said in an interview with CNN.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/25/us/politics/justice-department-trump.html

The House Jan. 6 committee is still resisting sending witness transcripts and depositions to DOJ, as requested several times by Justice Dept. lawyers working simultaneously on obtaining Trump's cohort's communications:

DOJ says it still hasn't received any of the Jan. 6 committee's transcripts despite ongoing talks

Kyle Cheney @kyledcheney (Politico senior legal affairs reporter) 14m
HAPPENING NOW: DOJ says in court (during a fortitously timed Proud Boys hearing) that it anticipates the Jan. 6 select committee releasing all 1,000 witness transcripts in September, along with its final report.

Kyle Cheney @kyledcheney
That could occur during or right around the timing if the Proud Boys trial, which is slated to begin in August, and both sides in the case are concerned about what affect this could have on their timing.

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

"...obtaining transcripts of the depositions and interviews would allow (DOJ) prosecutors to skip conducting interviews of their own and present the documents as evidence to a grand jury."
https://currently.att.yahoo.com/att/justice-department-asked-jan-6-211055700.html