Donald Trump
(Picture: PA Wire)A US judge ruled on Monday that Donald Trump “more likely than not” committed a felony as he tried to overturn his loss in the 2020 presidential election to Joe Biden.
District Judge David Carter in Los Angeles made the assertion in a written ruling that found the House of Representatives committee probing the attack on the US Capitol by Trump supporters on January 6 last year has a right to see emails written to the former president by one of his then-lawyers, John Eastman.
Carter said that Republican Trump’s alleged plan to overturn his November election defeat to Mr Biden amounted to a “coup.”
“The Court finds it more likely than not that President Trump corruptly attempted to obstruct the Joint Session of Congress on January 6, 2021,” Carter said in a written decision, adding: “The illegality of the plan was obvious.”
Mr Trump’s representatives did not respond to requests for comment.
Mr Carter’s findings marked a breakthrough for the Democratic-led January 6 Select Committee, which is investigating the storming of the capitol by more than 2,000 Trump supporters as a joint session of Congress met to certify Mr Biden’s victory.
Mr Trump had given a speech urging his supporters to march on the Capitol. The former president’s speech included false claims his election defeat was the result of widespread fraud, an assertion rejected by multiple courts, state election officials and members of his own administration.
The select committee said earlier this month said it believed Trump might have committed multiple felonies. The panel is expected to make a formal request to the US Justice Department that it consider charging Mr Trump.
“The Court’s ruling today is a victory for the rule of law and clears the way for the Select Committee to obtain materials important to our investigation,” the committee’s chairman, Democrat Bennie Thompson of Missouri and vice chair, Republican Lynne Cheney of Wyoming, said in a joint statement.
Both Mr Carter and the committee lack the power to bring criminal charges against Mr Trump. That decision would need to be made by U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland.
Mr Eastman will comply with the court order even though he disagrees with it, his attorney Charles Burnham said. Mr Eastman has a professional duty to protect the confidences of his clients, Mr Burnham said.
“Dr. Eastman’s case against the January 6 committee seeks to fulfill this responsibility,” Burnham said in a statement. “It is not an attempt to ‘hide’ documents or ‘obstruct’ congressional investigations, as the January 6th committee falsely claims.”
The US Department of Justice declined to comment on Mr Carter’s decision.
The House committee investigating the January 6 attack on the US Capitol voted unanimously Monday night to hold former Trump advisers Peter Navarro and Dan Scavino in contempt of Congress for their months long refusal to comply with subpoenas.
The committee made their case that Mr Navarro, Mr Trump’s trade adviser, and Scavino, a White House communications aide under Mr Trump, have been uncooperative in the congressional probe into the deadly 2021 insurrection and as a result, are in contempt.
“They’re not fooling anybody. They are obligated to comply with our investigation. They have refused to do so. And that’s a crime,” Mississippi Rep. Bennie Thompson, the committee’s Democratic chairman, said in his opening remarks.
The recommendation of criminal charges now goes to the full House, where it is likely to be approved by the Democratic-majority chamber. Approval there would then send the charges to the Justice Department, which has the final say on prosecution.
