Judge accelerates review of Eastman emails being withheld from Jan. 6 panel

A California judge said on Monday that he would be accelerating a review of emails that conservative lawyer John Eastman, who worked with the Trump campaign to draft a plan to reject the 2020 presidential election, has tried to shield from the Jan. 6 House committee.

District Judge David Carter noted in court filings that Eastman has sought to shield 568 pages of documents dated between Jan. 4, 2021, and Jan. 7, 2021, from the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.

“The Select Committee has repeatedly noted the significance of communications immediately before and after the January 6 attack on the Capitol. Given the investigation’s urgency, the Court finds it appropriate to expedite its privilege review of the January 4-7, 2021 documents,” Carter wrote.

Carter said that Eastman had until 4 p.m. on Feb. 22 to file a briefing supporting his claim that all 130 documents are privileged communications. By March 2, the House select panel would have to file its opposition. 

Eastman would have until March 7 to answer the committee’s objections, and oral arguments would be scheduled on the matter for March 9.

“The Court is cognizant of the time required to draft comprehensive privilege briefing for this number of documents. Given the Select Committee’s request for expedited briefing, Dr. Eastman’s daily quota for ongoing document review shall be decreased to 500 pages during his briefing dates: February 15-22, 2022, and March 3-7, 2022,” Carter wrote.

An attorney for Eastman declined to comment to The Hill on the matter.

Eastman drafted a memo advising the Trump campaign to push back against certain electors in an effort to deny President Biden’s win in the 2020 election. 

— Updated Feb. 16 at 1:01 p.m.