Federal agents armed with a search warrant descended upon John Eastman, a central figure in Donald Trump’s frantic bid to stay in power after the 2020 presidential election, to seize his phone last week, the lawyer said in a Monday court filing first reported by CNN. Eastman, a California law professor, said in the document that half a dozen FBI agents had approached him as he was leaving a restaurant in New Mexico with his wife and a friend last Wednesday. Eastman said the agents “forced” him to unlock his phone, giving them access to his email accounts. The warrant, included in Eastman’s filing, stated that the seized iPhone 12 Pro would be sent to Washington, D.C., or a federal forensic lab in northern Virginia. According to CNN, the search occurred the same day federal agents moved to raid the home of Jeffrey Clark, the former Justice Department official who pushed Trump’s baseless election fraud claims—indicating that authorities are looking hard at both men as it continues its criminal investigation into Trump’s final days in power.
