Trump attorney John Eastman says FBI agents seized his phone, ‘forced’ him to unlock it

John Eastman, who was former President Donald Trump’s attorney, confirmed on Monday that the FBI have seized his phone. Eastman also said that FBI agents “forced” him to unlock his phone.

Eastman also said he was not furnished with a copy of the warrant until after his phone was seized, according to the filing. The filing also alleged that the FBI agents appeared to be executing the warrant “issued at the behest” of the Justice Department.

Eastman made the declaration about the seized phone when he filed a lawsuit in a New Mexico court. Eastman has demanded access to his phone, all his property back and for any records on him to be destroyed.

The search and seize effort by the FBI is related to the January 6 investigations.

“The federal agents identified themselves as FBI agents, but they appeared to be executing a warrant issued at the behest of the Department of Justice’s Office of the Inspector General,” Eastman’s lawyer, Charles Burnham, wrote in the 13-page filing.

A federal judge in California previously ruled that Eastman and Trump “likely” entered a criminal conspiracy to obstruct the counting of electoral votes on January 6, 2021. The judge, U.S. District Court Judge David Carter, called their effort “a coup in search of a legal theory.”

Eastman’s phone was seized on the same night Justice Department officials searched the home of former Trump DOJ attorney Jeffrey Clark. Agents were also alleged to have issued subpoenas that day to attorney Brad Carver and campaign official Thomas Lane, both who have had close ties to Donald Trump.