A couple of points: Judges have already knocked down the attorney-client privilege defense, which as you say is limited, in several cases involving Trump already, because it was shown that it included potential criminal activity, which invokes the crime-fraud exception to privilege - a client's communication to her attorney isn't privileged if he made it with the intention of committing or covering up a crime or fraud.
Regarding the J6 case being brought so close to the election, as Marcy Wheeler (Emptywheel) notes on her blog, the DOJ was alraedy looking into the conspiracy to overturn the election as far back as January 25, 2021.
That may explain why the indictment came so quickly after Jack Smith being named Special Counsel: the investigation was already well underway. So, while the DOJ was busy charging the people who actually stormed the Capitol, they were also looking into the people and actions that were already conspiring to overthrow the government, the last act of which was intended to be the Capitol riot and the subsequent stopping of the electoral vote count, with Pence (they hoped) either throwing out the "contested" electors, throwing the election to Congress, where Republicans were in a numerical majority, or sending it back to state legislatures to decide.
Great overview, Kevin.
A couple of points: Judges have already knocked down the attorney-client privilege defense, which as you say is limited, in several cases involving Trump already, because it was shown that it included potential criminal activity, which invokes the crime-fraud exception to privilege - a client's communication to her attorney isn't privileged if he made it with the intention of committing or covering up a crime or fraud.
Regarding the J6 case being brought so close to the election, as Marcy Wheeler (Emptywheel) notes on her blog, the DOJ was alraedy looking into the conspiracy to overturn the election as far back as January 25, 2021.
https://www.emptywheel.net/2023/08/09/the-overt-investigative-steps-into-trumps-co-conspirators-tv-lawyers-ignored/
That may explain why the indictment came so quickly after Jack Smith being named Special Counsel: the investigation was already well underway. So, while the DOJ was busy charging the people who actually stormed the Capitol, they were also looking into the people and actions that were already conspiring to overthrow the government, the last act of which was intended to be the Capitol riot and the subsequent stopping of the electoral vote count, with Pence (they hoped) either throwing out the "contested" electors, throwing the election to Congress, where Republicans were in a numerical majority, or sending it back to state legislatures to decide.