A federal judge on Monday said that former United States President Donald Trump "most likely" committed a crime in the 2020 elections when he was involved in an attempt to block vote counting on Jan. 6, 2021.
In a letter, Judge David Carter wrote that, based on evidence, the Court found that the Republican businessman more likely than not corruptly attempted to obstruct the Joint Session of Congress during the day of the Capitol Hill riot.
Trump's Potential Crimes
Carter, who is a federal judge in California, ordered right-wing attorney John Eastman to turn over 101 emails from around Jan. 6, 2021. The attorney has tried to keep the conversations a secret from the House Select Committee that is responsible for investigating the chaotic insurrection.
The judge's reasoning in his letter is an acknowledgment by a federal court that Trump's interest in overturning the results of the 2020 elections could be considered criminal. Furthermore, he revealed some new information regarding the emails that the House was seeking and called for more investigation, as per CNN.
Carter's 44-page ruling laid out in detail the timeline of Trump's efforts to convince elected officials and the public of voter fraud in the 2020 election. It also urged Attorney General Merrick Garland to launch an investigation headed by the Justice Department to look into the former president deeper.
The judge said that, while Trump and Eastman justified their plan with allegations of voter fraud, the former president's knowledge that this was false meant the entire plan was unlawful. Carter was especially critical of the former president's legal justification, noting that there was sufficient evidence showing that the election did not involve fraud that could change the outcome.
According to Yahoo News, Carter added that in the months after the election, various credible sources, from Trump's inner circle to agency leadership to statisticians, informed the former president and Eastman that there was no evidence showing voter fraud. Furthermore, an internal Trump Campaign memo concluded in November that fraud claims against Dominion voting machines were baseless.
Peaceful Transition of Power
Judge Carter said that the illegality of Trump's plan was plainly obvious, adding that the United States was founded on the peaceful transition of power. He said that the former president ignored history when he pressed former Vice President Mike Pence to single-handedly determine the results of the 2020 election.
He found that the actions taken by Trump and Eastman amounted to a "coup in search of a legal theory." The Justice Department has been investigating the details and events leading up to the Capitol Hill riot. However, it has not yet given public indication that it was considering a criminal case against Trump.
The situation comes as the House Select Committee has lined up testimony from four top Trump White House officials this week, including Jared Kushner, the former president's son-in-law and adviser. The panel is also set to recommend charging criminal contempt of two other allies of Trump, Peter Navarro, a former White House adviser, and Dan Scavino Jr., former deputy chief of staff, the New York Times reported.
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