Federal agents have seized the personal phone of John Eastman, one of the alleged orchestraters of President Donald Trump’s campaign to discredit the 2020 election, according to a new report.
FBI agents carried out a search warrant to pick up Eastman’s phone as he was leaving a restaurant in New Mexico last Wednesday, the New York Times reported, citing a court document filed by Eastman on Monday.
The phone was handed over to the Office of the Inspector General of the Department of Justice and transported to the Department of Forensics Laboratory in Northern Virginia, according to Eastman’s documentation, a request for restitution of his property by the government.
Investigators say Eastman, a conservative law professor who was an adviser to Trump during his presidency, was the “architect” of Trump’s campaign of allegations of electoral fraud and an attempt to overturn the January 6, 2021 election.
Eastman’s phone survey shows the Justice Department is escalating its criminal investigation into Trump’s efforts to stay in office.
Eastman (left) stands next to former New York Mayor Rudolf Giuliani as he speaks in Washington at a rally in support of President Donald Trump on January 6, 2021. AP / Jacquelyn Martin
Prior to the investigation, a White House lawyer warned Eastman to find a “great devilish” lawyer in a telephone conversation the day after the January 6 uprising.
“[Eastman] he started asking me about something related to Georgia and the preservation of something that could potentially be appealed, and I told him, “Are you crazy, damn it?” on January 6th.
I said, “I want to hear only two words that come out of your mouth from now on: an orderly transition.” “I said, ‘I don’t want to hear any other devilish words coming out of your mouth, no matter what, except for an orderly transition,'” he continued in a recorded message.
“Finally, he said ‘arranged transition.’ I said, “Good John. Now I’m going to give you the best free legal advice you’ve ever received in your life: get yourself a great criminal defense attorney, you’ll need it. And then I shut him up.
Earlier, investigators asked a judge to force Eastman to release his e-mail messages related to the conspiracy. They said Trump called on his advice as he urged supporters to stop certifying his loss in the Jan. 6 Capitol election.
Eastman is said to have ignored then-Vice President Mike Pence for law enforcement this afternoon – even when he learned that an armed mob had violated the Capitol and threatened violence against Pence.
Federal agents also seized the phone of former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark, another key figure in Trump’s disinformation campaign.
Add Comment