The court filing came as part of a civil case in California as the House select committee attempts to legally compel attorney John Eastman to provide investigators with emails regarding his work with Trump. Eastman advised Trump and his allies regarding efforts to overturn the 2020 election results in an effort to keep President Joe Biden from taking office.
“The Select Committee also has a good-faith basis for concluding that the President and members of his Campaign engaged in a criminal conspiracy to defraud the United States in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371,” the House select committee wrote in its Wednesday filing.
“Let’s get it on! We’ve seen overwhelming evidence that Trump, Eastman & others were involved in a conspiracy to commit offenses against the US and obstructed an official proceeding,” Kirschner wrote in a Wednesday evening Twitter post, commenting on the new court filing.
“It’s nice to see the House select committee say it IN A COURT FILING! Indictments must follow,” the attorney added.
In a statement forwarded to Newsweek by Trump’s spokesperson Liz Harrington, the former president again accused Democrats of “rigging the Election”, which was the “actual conspiracy.” Trump said the House select committee’s “sole goal” is to prevent him from running for president again if he chooses to do so in 2024.
The former president has repeatedly denounced the House select committee’s investigation, arguing it is politically motivated. He has said that the probe, along with multiple other investigations into him and his business, is a “scam” led by Democrats.
Other legal experts urged the Justice Department to launch an investigation into Trump and his allies over their actions leading up to January 6, 2021, after the court filing became public.
“A good faith belief that Trump conspired against the United States is not sufficient to convict him—that would require proof beyond a reasonable doubt. But it’s more than enough to open a criminal investigation. Has the DOJ done so? Doesn’t look like it,” Renato Mariotti, a former federal prosecutor, tweeted. “Why haven’t they?”
“The filing on behalf of the US House said: ‘The select committee has a good-faith basis for concluding that the president and members of his campaign engaged in a criminal conspiracy to defraud the United States.’ DOJ surely has the same, AG Garland,” Laurence Tribe, a professor of constitutional law at Harvard, tweeted.
Hundreds of Trump supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol nearly fourteen months ago. The rioters were largely animated by the then-president’s lies that the 2020 election was “rigged” or “stolen.” At a rally near the White House ahead of the assault, Trump urged his followers to walk to the federal legislative build and “fight like hell” to save their country.
In tandem with that riot, Trump and his allies concocted an ultimately unsuccessful plan to prevent the formal certification of Biden’s Electoral College victory. That scheme required then-Vice President Mike Pence to reject the official electors of several key swing states, but Pence refused to comply—asserting that the effort was against the Constitution and that his role in the certification process was merely ceremonial.
Pence has reasserted that position in recent weeks, while Trump has attacked his former vice president and suggested he should be investigated. Meanwhile, no evidence has emerged corroborating Trump’s extraordinary allegations that the 2020 election was “rigged” or “stolen.” To the contrary, audits and recounts across the country have consistently reaffirmed Biden’s win.
Update: 3/3/22, 1 P.M. ET: This article was updated with a statement from Trump.