Trump attorney asks court to shield 11,000 documents from Jan. 6 committee

Feb. 14 (UPI) -- John Eastman, an attorney for former President Donald Trump, told a federal court Monday that 11,000 White House documents should not be seen by the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol because of attorney-related privileges.

Eastman, a supporter of Trump's challenges to the 2020 election, said the documents, among 46,000 he has reviewed via court order, are protected by either attorney-client privilege or work-product privileges.

A federal judge said Eastman must review up to 94,000 pages of emails subpoenaed from his former employer Chapman University to details his claims for privilege.

House Counsel Douglas Letter complained on Friday that Eastman has not provided enough details on why the withheld documents should be classified as privileged for the committee to determine the validity of the claims.

"The select committee's urgent need for resolution of the privilege issues is heightened by the fact that plaintiff has broadly claimed privileges over a vast swath of documents -- many of which appear to be critical to the select committee's investigation," Letter said, according to The Independent.

Eastman is believed to have helped craft Trump's White House legal strategy to get then-Vice President Mike Pence to overturn the 2020 Electoral College voting on Jan. 6, 2021. Pence, who presided over the vote count, rejected the pressure.