Federal Judge Finds Trump Most Likely to Have Committed Crimes During 2020 Election
As the committee continued its investigation, the judge’s decision came at a crucial time. People familiar with the investigation say that the panel has received testimony from four Trump White House officials this week, including Jared Kushner (the former son-in-law of the president and adviser), who was due to interview them on Thursday.
On Monday night, the committee voted 9-0 to recommend criminal contempt charges against Mr. Trump’s two other allies — Peter Navarro (a former White House adviser) and Dan Scavino Jr. (former deputy chief of staff) for their involvement in the efforts to overturn the 2020 elections and their refusal to comply with subpoenas. Now, the matter moves to the Rules Committee and then the full House. The Justice Department will decide if the matter passes. A conviction for contempt of Congress can result in a maximum of one-year imprisonment.
Judge Carter’s decision was the most significant development in the investigation to date. It suggests that investigators have built enough evidence to convince a federal court of Mr. Trump’s guilt and laid out a roadmap for a possible criminal referral.
Judge Carter’s decision was made in an order for Mr. Eastman (a conservative lawyer) to turn over more than 100 emails to the committee. He had written a memo that members of both parties compared to a blueprint for coup planning.
A lawyer for Mr. Eastman stated in a Monday statement that he disagreed with Judge Carter’s findings, but would comply with the order for documents to be turned over.
The chairman of the House Committee, Representative Bennie Thomson, Democrat from Mississippi, and its vice-chair, Representative Liz Cheney (Republican of Wyoming), made a statement hailing the decision.
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