Chapman University subpoenaed over former law professor’s emails

 Former Chapman law professor John Eastman sues to block a subpoena requisitioning his emails from his time working at the university while functioning as then-President Donald Trump’s campaign lawyer. DANIEL PEARSON, Photo Editor

Former Chapman law professor John Eastman has returned to the national spotlight due to ongoing controversy surrounding his work as campaign lawyer for then-President Donald Trump. In an effort to investigate Eastman’s role in the U.S. Capitol insurrection Jan. 6, 2021, Chapman University faces a subpoena from a House of Representatives select committee requesting Eastman’s email correspondence. 

Committee investigator John Wood suspects Eastman used his Chapman email account in the engagement of “matters related to the election as late as January 2021.” Eastman, however, reportedly believes he did not use his university email for his work representing Trump, but said he cannot confirm this. 

Despite no longer working for Chapman, the renowned conservative’s previous employment during the election has cemented his association with the university. 

Eastman was also directly subpoenaed by the House in Nov. 2021 but claimed his Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination when questioned by the committee. The committee issued the subpoena to Chapman Jan. 18, demanding access to the emails by Jan 21. The Trump attorney has been accused of stalling the proceedings and sued to block the subpoena of his university email address Jan 20. 

Chapman had been prepared to acquiesce to the subpoena until he sued, arguing that many emails are covered by attorney-client privilege. Chapman had been prepared to turn over all of Eastman’s emails to the court but the former professor is now reviewing records to turn over to the court and has been ordered to review 1,500 pages of records a day. 

While the House has asked that Eastman prioritize emails from between Jan 4. to Jan. 7, 2021, his legal counsel has elected to review all emails from Nov. 3, 2020 to Jan, 20, 2021 in chronological order, instead. 

House lawyer Douglas Letter believes this tactic “defeats” the subpoena, as Eastman’s actions are expected to delay the disclosure of the relevant emails by months — an obstruction Letter said could last until May or June of 2022. Letter called the delayed disclosure “useless,” as the committee aims to hold public hearings in the spring and release a preliminary report by mid-2022. 

In the meantime, the House of Representatives select committee has been provided with some of Eastman’s older emails as he complies with court order, which Letter explained are basically irrelevant to his actions surrounding the events of last Jan. 6.

“All of the pages that were produced to us were things like news articles,” Letter told CNN. “They’re basically useless.

The continued affiliation between Eastman’s actions and Chapman has raised concerns among students both in the law school and in other programs about the university’s reputation. Eastman has been featured in national media since his controversial opinion article on Newsweek in August 2020 and has since continued to garner more attention and controversy.

This is a developing story. Follow The Panther on social media and at www.thepanthernewspaper.org for updates.