The court’s conclusions will fortify those inside the Justice Department arguing for a change of the current apparent course.
concludes that Trump and Eastman, “more likely than not … corruptly attempted to obstruct the Joint Session of Congress on January 6, 2021” and with deceitful intent, conspired to defraud the United States.Those are the two crimes, 18 USC §§1512 and 371, most commonly mentioned as a basis for indicting Trump over his soft coup attempt.
Of course, prosecutors carry a heavier burden than proving it “more likely than not” that a crime was committed. But that conclusion coming from a federal court should be viewed as rocket fuel to launch an aggressive investigation of the former president, the signs of which have continued to be lacking from Attorney General Merrick Garland. As Judge Carter noted, it seems quite apparent that Trump and Eastman knew what they were trying to make happen was wrong.
President Trump’s repeated pleas for Georgia Secretary of State [Brad] Raffensperger clearly demonstrate that his justification was not to investigate fraud, but to win the election: “So what are we going to do here, folks? I only need 11,000 votes. Fellas, I need 11,000 votes. Give me a break.” Taken together, this evidence demonstrates that President Trump likely knew the electoral count plan had no factual justification.
Eastman likely had a similar “corrupt intent,” the judge concluded, citing the testimony of Pence attorney Greg Jacob. “[Dr. Eastman] acknowledged that he didn’t think Kamala Harris should have that authority in 2024; he didn’t think Al Gore should have had it in 2000; and he acknowledged that no small government conservative should think that that was the case,” Jacob testified.
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