The House Select Committee that is responsible for investigating the events of the unprecedented Capitol riot acquired eight disputed emails that allegedly show plans to defraud courts and obstruct the congressional vote on the presidency.
The emails were sent in late 2020 and reportedly showed former United States President Donald Trump and his lawyers' plans. The new court filing from Trump's then-attorney John Eastman disclosed that the House said it had accessed the emails on Friday.
Jan.6 Investigation: Disputed Emails
The investigation has been working to obtain the records for months and a federal judge cleared the way for the panel to get their hands on the conversations in recent weeks, calling them possible evidence of the planning of crimes on the former president's behalf.
Eastman has repeatedly tried several last-ditch efforts to hold off the committee from acquiring the emails. The ones that the committee acquired include four communications between Trump attorneys that appear to indicate they knew details they submitted to courts to challenge the election were false while the other four reveal them discussing filing lawsuits as a way to hold off congressional certification of Joe Biden, as per CNN.
One of the emails also described the concern that the lawyers had about submitting a declaration signed by the former president himself in a lawsuit challenging the election. It said that the election fraud allegations it presented to the court were true. The statement was sent to court despite lawyers knowing that the allegations written within were not sound.
Now, Eastman is asking the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals for an order telling the House to return or destroy the eight emails that the panel was given. The official's team told the court on Sunday that Eastman provided a link to a dropbox folder containing the remaining eight documents to the Select Committee in order to comply fully with the district court's production order.
According to Politico, Eastman also asked the committee to refrain from reviewing the records while he worked on filing an appeal. But the panel declined and continued to download the documents as Eastman is requesting the appeals court to order the panel to return or destroy the documents.
Post-Election Crime Plans
Anthony Caso, Eastman's attorney, said that while a stay barring the production is no longer available, an order that directs the panel to return or destroy the documents is considered a viable remedy.
However, such an order by a court against Congress would be an extraordinary step by one co-equal branch against another, and would most likely be impossible to enforce. Trump spokesperson Taylor Budowich conducted a similar effort when he asked a judge to claw back financial records from the select committee after JP Morgan provided them in December.
California-based federal Judge David Carter, who issued the latest order, said that the former president and his attorneys ultimately filed the complaint with the same inaccurate numbers without rectifying, clarifying, or otherwise changing them. The judge added that Trump signed the verification statement under oath that the numbers were "true and correct," The Hill reported.
