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Washington,
Mar
03:
A
US
congressional
committee
tasked
with
investigating
the
Capitol
insurrection
said
Wednesday
that
former
President
Donald
Trump
and
his
associates
had
engaged
in
a
“criminal
conspiracy”
to
stop
Congress
from
certifying
the
2020
presidential
election.
The
filing
also
said
Trump
sought
to
delay
the
certification
of
the
2020
vote
in
an
effort
to
“manipulate”
results.
The
claim
was
made
in
a
filing
in
response
to
a
lawsuit
by
John
Eastman,
a
lawyer
and
an
adviser
of
Trump’s
at
the
time.
Eastman
consulted
with
Trump
as
the
president
attempted
to
overturn
the
2020
election.
Eastman
is
suing
in
an
effort
to
withhold
documents
from
the
January
6
committee.
What
is
in
the
filing
the
January
6
committee
submitted?
In
a
221-page
filing
submitted
to
the
US
District
Court
in
the
Central
District
of
California,
the
January
6
committee
wrote
that
it
“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.”
“The
evidence
supports
an
inference
that
President
Trump
and
members
of
his
campaign
knew
he
had
not
won
enough
legitimate
state
electoral
votes
to
be
declared
the
winner
of
the
2020
Presidential
election
during
the
January
6
Joint
Session
of
Congress,
but
the
President
nevertheless
sought
to
use
the
Vice
President
to
manipulate
the
results
in
his
favor,” the
filing
states.
The
January
6
committee
filing
is
the
most
formal
effort
to
date
to
link
Trump
with
a
criminal
conspiracy.
The
filing
sought
to
refute
Eastman’s
claims
of
attorney-client
privilege
in
his
effort
to
hold
back
documents
from
the
January
6
committee.
Why
is
the
filing
significant?
The
US
Department
of
Justice
has
charged
hundreds
of
individuals
with
various
offenses
for
participating
in
the
US
Capitol
riot,
though
it
has
not
given
any
indication
of
whether
it
seeks
to
charge
Trump.
The
committee
cannot
charge
people
with
crimes.
In
a
statement,
Democratic
Representative
Bennie
Thompson,
of
Mississippi,
said:
“The
Select
Committee
is
not
conducting
a
criminal
investigation.”
The
filing
could,
however,
carry
weight
as
the
Department
of
Justice
weighs
its
options.
The
filing
mentions
interviews
with
numerous
senior
Trump
aides,
including
former
Vice
President
Mike
Pence’s
chief
of
staff,
Marc
Short.
Source: DW