Eastman Joins Other Coup Organizers In Lawsuit To Shield Cellphone Data
John C. Eastman
Reprinted with permission from DailyKos
Attorney John Eastman on Tuesday joined his fellow coup plotters in trying to run out the clock on justice, and ultimately democracy. Eastman—the man who penned a legal memo arguing that Vice President Mike Pence had unilateral power to overturn the 2020 election and then later called the theory "crazy"—is suing Verizon and the House Select Committee on January 6 to prevent release of his cellphone data to the panel. Eastman has also declined to cooperate with the Jan. 6 probe, pleading his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.
Eastman's lawsuit comes after bombshell disclosures by the January 6 panel of multiple texts sent to then-White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows as Trump supporters swarmed the Capitol in search of lawmakers. Meadows, who has now been held in contempt and originally turned over the materials voluntarily, turned on a dime last week and sued the January 6 panel, among others, to block its subpoena.
Eastman's suit also comes one day after four organizers of the January 6 rally filed a similar lawsuit against Verizon to block release of their cellphone data to the panel. Eastman's suit argues the select committee's subpoena is invalid for several reasons, including that the panel is improperly exercising a law enforcement function and has no legitimate legislative purpose, and that the subpoena infringes on both attorney-client privilege and Eastman's First Amendment rights.
But frankly, Eastman's rationale isn't really the point. Just like the coup plotters made a coordinated attempt to overthrow the 2020 election results from inside the White House all the way down to the rioters who attacked the Capitol, now the coup conspirators are orchestrating a united legal front in which they attempt to block information flow just long enough for Republicans to regain control of the House and kill the investigation.
Donald Trump, his flamethrower Steve Bannon, Meadows, Eastman, the "rally" organizers—they were all in on the deadly siege from the get-go and now they are desperately trying to cover their tracks until such time as House Republicans can reclaim the reins and do their dirty work.
As Boston Globe columnist Renee Graham wrote, "Their primary strategy is to flatline the investigation through stalling tactics and subterfuge."
And so the coup continues.
