The committee issued its subpoena to Chapman University on Jan. 18, demanding documents by Jan. 21. Eastman filed suit against the committee and the school on Jan. 20. He has also sued the panel in federal court in Washington to block a subpoena for his own testimony and records.
Eastman was a central figure in Trump’s last-ditch effort to subvert the 2020 election, developing a legal strategy to pressure Pence to declare total authority to reject dozens of Joe Biden’s presidential electors. Under Eastman’s plan, Pence — who was constitutionally required to preside over the Jan. 6 counting of electoral votes — would simply refuse to count those from states Trump was contesting, throwing the result into doubt.
But Pence refused to go along with the plan, drawing scorn from Trump and inflaming the crowd of Trump supporters who soon breached the Capitol, with many chanting “hang Mike Pence.”
In his order Monday, Carter said he intended to reject several of the key arguments Eastman put forward, including one claiming the committee lacks authority to issue its subpoena in the first place, as well as claims based on the First and Fourth Amendments.
Eastman has also contended that many of the documents the committee is seeking would reveal attorney work product related to clients he worked with at Chapman University,
“In his time at Chapman, Dr. Eastman practiced law in addition to his academic work. Dr. Eastman ran a law school clinic which provided legal representation to the public,” his attorney Charles Burnham argued in the lawsuit. “He also accepted pro bono and privately retained clients, especially those with cases relevant to his scholarly work.”
At the hearing Monday, Carter ordered the committee to publicly reveal correspondence it had with Eastman’s attorney. And the panel posted the short exchange that began in early November on the court’s docket late Monday. In the exchanges, committee investigator John Wood — a former Republican-appointed U.S. attorney from Missouri — indicated that Eastman had used an email account associated with Chapman University for “matters related to the election as late as January 2021.”
Wood asked if Burnham could confirm that Eastman still had access to those emails and could produce them to the panel.
“If not, we can send a subpoena to Chapman, but we thought it would be easier for everyone if it turns out we can get them from you and you are able to review them before producing them,” Wood wrote.
Chapman University did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Eastman had previously indicated his intent to assert his Fifth Amendment rights on Steve Bannon’s “War Room” Podcast. Bannon himself refused to cooperate with the select committee. He has since been held in contempt of Congress and charged by the Justice Department.