John Eastman, Donald Trump’s ally and alleged collaborator in efforts to alter the outcome of the 2020 election, is suffering the consequences for his aberrant behavior. After a hearing, it was recommended that Eastman’s license be revoked, and now that has finally gone into effect.
Eastman is accused of helping Trump with efforts to remain in power after his 2020 loss, including helping arrange the fake elector scheme that was intended to confuse the process and provide an excuse for Mike Pence, Vice President at the time, to refuse to certify the electoral count.
Now Eastman continues to face his indictment in Georgia — along with Trump and others — and has also lost his law license in his current home state of California. Mediaite reported:
“Eastman’s wrongdoing was committed directly in the course and scope of his representation of President Trump and the Trump Campaign,” State Bar Court Judge Yvette D. Roland ruled. “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.”
Almost a week later, the state of California has officially revoked Eastman’s law license. His lawyers released a statement complaining and alleging that he was being punished only for “unpopular legal theories,” rather than efforts to overturn an election. According to AOL:
“Criminalization of unpopular legal theories is against every American tradition and would have ended the careers of John Adams, Ruth Ginsburg, Thurgood Marshall and many other now-celebrated American lawyers,” the statement reads. “We ask all interested observers of any political persuasion to join us in decrying this troubling development.”
Legal analyst Jennifer Rubin has suggested this decision bodes poorly for Trump, as it represents “devastating factual findings and airtight legal analysis” showing criminal actions that are not protected under the First Amendment.
Eastman’s claims that he was only sharing legal opinions is comparable to Trump’s claim that his actions to overturn the 2020 election were merely speech. According to Newsweek:
“‘And insofar as Trump is likely to face much of the same evidence and to offer the same defenses, he has plenty to worry about in D.C. and Georgia. No one, it seems is buying their excuses,’ Rubin wrote in her column.”
The investigation into election interference in Arizona has also included a look into Eastman, so he may face further consequences as well in the near future.
