WASHINGTON — A conservative lawyer who advised former president Donald Trump on ways to overturn the 2020 election sued to block the release of his phone records to a congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
John Eastman, a former professor at Chapman University School of Law, is seeking a court order prohibiting Verizon Communications Inc. from complying with a congressional subpoena demanding his phone and text data.
Eastman drafted a two-page memo after the 2020 election that outlined ways for Vice President Mike Pence to derail the count of Electoral College votes in Congress on Jan. 6, thereby denying Joe Biden’s clear victory and handing the election to Trump. He also spoke alongside Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani at a Jan. 6 rally that preceded the storming of the Capitol.
Eastman is among a growing group of Republicans and Trump insiders fighting demands for their cooperation in the Jan. 6 investigation. Trump’s former Chief of Staff Mark Meadows also sued to block a congressional subpoena for his testimony and phone records, even though he had turned over a trove of information. Trump adviser Steve Bannon is set to go on trial in July on criminal contempt charges over his refusal to cooperate with the investigation.
Eastman claims the request for his phone records violates his privacy and infringes attorney-client privilege. He also claims the subpoena violates House rules because the select committee lacks “validly appointed minority members.”
The committee is made up of seven Democrats and Republicans Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, both of whom are Trump critics.
