John Eastman, the attorney who helped former President Donald Trump pressure former Vice President Mike Pence to overturn the 2020 election, has pleaded his fifth amendment right against self-incrimination before the House Selection Commission on the January 6 Capitol riot.
Eastman’s attorney Charles Burnham said in a letter to Chair Bennie Thompson (D-Mississippi): “Dr. Eastman hereby asserts his Fifth Amendment right not to be a witness against himself in response to your subpoena.”
Eastman met with Trump and pushed state legislative leaders to reject Joe Biden‘s victory in a handful of swing states and then appoint alternative electors to the electoral college to deny Biden’s victory. Eastman also spoke at Trump’s January 6 rally.
Eastman is now the second known Jan 6 committee witness to plead the fifth.