John Eastman claims attorney-client privilege over thousands of pages sought by Jan. 6 investigators

Attorney John Eastman, a close ally of Donald Trump amid his effort to subvert the 2020 election, has attempted to shield more than 10,000 pages of emails and counting from congressional investigators, citing attorney client or attorney work-product privileges.

The staggering total comes amid a court-ordered review by Eastman of more than 94,000 pages of emails the Jan. 6 select committee has subpoenaed from Eastman’s former employer, Chapman University. Eastman sued to block the subpoena but a federal judge last month denied that effort and ordered him to begin reviewing the emails and itemizing his privilege claims.

In a court filing early Monday, Eastman said he has reviewed about 46,000 pages — nearly half the total — and provided about 8,000 to the committee. About 27,000 were automatically withheld because they were considered boilerplate mass emails, like campaign solicitations or newsletters. Eastman has attempted to shield the remaining 11,000 from the select committee by citing one of the attorney related privileges. With half of the review remaining, it’s likely that total will climb.

Last month, the judge in the case, U.S. District Court Judge James Carter, ordered Eastman to review 1,500 pages per day and determine whether any privileges apply. Carter, who has emphasized the urgency of the Jan. 6 investigation, required Eastman to produce a daily log of documents he is withholding to give committee investigators a chance to object to his privilege claims. Carter has said he intends to review any disputed documents as Eastman nears completion of his full review.

Eastman and House investigators are due in court Monday afternoon to update Carter on their progress.

Eastman became a central player in developing Trump’s legal strategy to pressure Vice President Mike Pence to unilaterally overturn the 2020 election on Jan. 6, 2021. Pence, who presided over a joint session of Congress that day required to finalize Joe Biden’s victory, ultimately refused to go along, despite pressure from Trump and his allies. But his decision inflamed a pro-Trump mob that had encircled the Capitol and preceded a violent breach that threatened the transfer of power.

The select committee has raised new alarms that Eastman is slow-walking or obfuscating their efforts to obtain critical documents related to this effort. In daily court filings, House Counsel Doug Letter has complained that Eastman’s privilege logs fail to provide enough insight into the documents he’s refusing to provide to give the committee an opportunity to issue informed challenges. Some, Letter wrote in a Friday court filing, are vaguely labeled “legal arguments” or “proposal to consider.”

“The Select Committee’s urgent need for resolution of the privilege issues is heightened by the fact that Plaintiff has broadly claimed privileges over a vast swath of documents—many of which appear to be critical to the Select Committee’s investigation,” Letter wrote.

The House is specifically asking Eastman to furnish documents that would detail his attorney-client relationship with Trump or his presidential campaign in the closing weeks of 2020, as Trump’s bid to overturn the election grew increasingly desperate.

But Eastman said the court’s current process already accounted for these disputes, and he said the committee’s effort to speed it up appeared motivated by the dwindling congressional calendar.

“To the extent the congressional defendants’ claimed ‘urgent need for resolution of the privilege issues’ is motivated by the looming 2022 midterm election, this is not a valid reason to alter this Court’s January 26 order,” Eastman’s attorney wrote.