U.S. Capitol riot panel says Trump may have engaged in ‘criminal conspiracy’

The congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday said former President Donald Trump may have engaged in criminal conduct in his bid to overturn his election defeat.

“Evidence and information available to the Committee establishes a good-faith belief that Mr. Trump and others may have engaged in criminal and/or fraudulent acts,” the committee said in a court filing.

“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,” the filing said.

The court document was filed in federal court in Los Angeles as part of the U.S. House of Representative Select Committee’s dispute with John Eastman, a lawyer who advised Trump on a plan to invalidate election results in key battleground states.

Eastman sued the committee in December, seeking to block a congressional subpoena requesting that he turn over thousands of emails.