The bar complaint alleges that Dr. Eastman may have assisted former President Donald Trump in criminal conduct in connection with the 2020 election and January 6th.
In other words, there is currently pending today against Dr. Eastman formal legal process specifically alleging criminal activity in connection with the very event described in the cover letter to this committee's subpoena.
I submit that based on these facts, Dr. Eastman has a clear case, as clear a case for Fifth Amendment protection as this committee—or indeed any committee—is ever likely to encounter.
In closing, I wish to emphasis that Dr. Eastman's purpose here is simply to do his duty as a citizen. Dr. Eastman is a distinguished lawyer and scholar of the law. He recognizes his legitimate responsibilities to the United States Congress.
The law is clear that invocation of the Fifth Amendment must, if Congress requested, be offered on a question-by-question basis. This committee has made such a request and Dr. Eastman has come here today from far out of town, at his own expense, to comply.
And with that, the committee may inquire. Thank you.
Great. Thank you, Mr. Burnham, for your statement. Both your statement, which you've just provided to the committee, as well as your letter of December 1st, are in the record.
And I would note for the record, I believe two members of the committee have joined us, Vice Chair Cheney and Mr. Raskin. The way it's set right now, unfortunately, we can't see both of them, but we will try to get it switched to grid view so that we can keep track of who's joining.
I am going to just very quickly, in order to save time, go over a little bit of the witness' professional background.
