According to a recent filing by a judge, the California State Bar has proposed the disbarment of John Eastman, the former Trump election attorney.
The State Bar of California charged Eastman with multiple disciplinary counts last January, alleging that he engaged in “a course of conduct to plan, promote, and assist then-President Trump in executing a strategy, unsupported by facts or law, to overturn the legitimate results of the 2020 presidential election.”
State Bar Court Judge Yvette D. Roland stated in a filing on Wednesday that Eastman’s wrongdoing directly occurred in the course and scope of his representation of President Trump and the Trump Campaign. “Eastman’s actions transgressed those ethical limits by advocating, participating in, and pursuing a strategy to challenge the results of the 2020 presidential election that lacked evidentiary or legal support.”
“In view of the circumstances surrounding Eastman’s misconduct and balancing aggravation and mitigation, the court recommends that Eastman be disbarred,” the judge stated in his ruling.
The judge determined that Eastman showed an “unwillingness to acknowledge ethical lapses regarding his actions, demonstrating an apparent inability to accept responsibility.”
According to Roland, Eastman’s lack of remorse “presents a significant risk that Eastman may engage in further unethical conduct, compounding the threat to the public.”
In a statement to ABC News, Eastman’s attorney, Randall Miller, stated that Eastman believes the “handling of the issues he was asked to assess after the November 2020 election was based on reliable legal precedent.”
“The process undertaken by Dr. Eastman in 2020 is the same process taken by lawyers every day and everywhere—indeed, that is the essence of what lawyers do,” Miller said in a statement. “To the extent today’s decision curtails that principle, we are confident the Review Court will swiftly provide a remedy.”
According to California bar investigators, Eastman made “demonstrably false and misleading statements” in the memoranda he produced, which served as the groundwork for the “legal strategies” aimed at having then-Vice President Mike Pence interfere with the 2020 election certification.
The disbarment proceedings, which began in June, included testimony from Pence’s legal counsel, Greg Jacob, state election officials from many states, and experts on whom Eastman relied for his bogus claims of widespread election fraud.
In the federal election interference indictment against former President Donald Trump, special counsel Jack Smith named Eastman as one of six alleged co-conspirators in August.
In a separate criminal election meddling case in Georgia, Eastman faces accusations alongside Trump and other co-defendants. He’s pleaded not guilty.
