Capitol insurrection: John Eastman says he does not want to comply with subpoenas

One of the key individuals that had a hand in twice-impeached former President Donald Trump’s efforts to stay in power even after losing the election was John Eastman. The lawyer who drafted the infamous memo detailing how to stage a coup recently ranted about having to comply with the congressional subpoena from the House Committee.

Speaking on Fox News Monday, Eastman complained about having to comply with the subpoena served to him by the House Committee investigating the Capitol insurrection. Host Tucker Carlson pressed Eastman on why he should comply with the subpoena, in which Eastman explained that he would be held in criminal contempt if he did not.

“We shouldn’t,” said Eastman. “But Congress has the power to issue criminal contempt. Normally those don’t go anywhere in charades such as this, but the Department of Justice is fully in line.”

Eastman went on to complain that the DOJ is also prosecuting those who defy congressional subpoenas, noting the indictment brought against former Trump strategist Steve Bannon. To note, the panel is already warning several other high-profile Trump officials like Mark Meadows and former DOJ official Jeffrey Clark against trying to defy the subpoenas. The panel has also already voted to hold Clark in contempt for refusing to cooperate.

“They’ve already brought one criminal indictment against one of the people who refused to comply. The phone companies, I think they don’t want to comply, but they’re going to be held in criminal contempt if they don’t! So they’ve forced me and my lawyers to work with some of these other people to file a court action...to block these unbelievably unconstitutional subpoenas of my records,” said Eastman.

Meadows, who initially agreed to cooperate with the committee, recently announced that he would no longer comply. The House Committee issued a statement criticizing Meadows for backing out and threatened that should he refuse to appear for the deposition despite turning over related records, he would be held in criminal contempt.

Meadows’ sudden backing out from cooperating with the committee comes amidst his revelations about the former president’s response to the insurrection in his upcoming book.