A federal judge in California ordered a conservative law professor to turn over documents to the Jan. 6 congressional committee, saying they were not subject to attorney-client privilege because it was “more likely than not” that former President Donald Trump had committed crimes.
U.S. District Judge David O. Carter said Monday that Trump had “launched a campaign to overturn a democratic election” using a plan that relied on legal guidance from John Eastman, the former dean of Chapman University law school. “The illegality of the plan was obvious,” and that Trump sought to “corruptly” obstruct Congress on the day it was certifying the 2020 presidential election in favor of Joe Biden, Carter said.
The ruling by Carter, who was appointed to the bench by Bill Clinton, used unusually stark language for a judicial ruling to describe Trump’s actions and the riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, when hundreds of Trump supporters stormed the House to disrupt the certification proceedings.
