A judge has recommended that conservative attorney John Eastman lose his California case legal license about his efforts to keep former President Donald Trump in power after the 2020 election.
Eastman, a former law school dean, faces 11 disciplinary charges in the state bar court stemming from his development of a legal strategy to prevent then-Vice President Mike Pence from certifying President Joe Biden’s victory.
The recommendation issued Wednesday by State Bar Court of California Judge Yvette Roland now goes to the California Supreme Court for a final decision on whether she should be disbarred. Eastman can appeal the Supreme Court’s decision.
Eastman’s attorney, Randall A. Miller, said in an email that he and his client were “digesting the decision” and would receive a more detailed statement on the judge’s decision later.
The California State Bar is a regulatory body and the only court system in the United States dedicated to attorney discipline.
Eastman is being prosecuted separately in Georgia in this case accuses Trump and 18 allies a conspiracy to overturn the Republicans’ loss in the state. Eastman, who pleaded not guilty, argued that he was simply doing his job as Trump’s lawyer when he challenged the results of the 2020 election. He has denounced that the case targets lawyers “for their zealous advocacy on behalf of their clients.”
He’s one of them too unnamed co-conspirators in the separate 2020 election interference case brought by special counsel Jack Smith, but Eastman is not charged in the federal case.
The California Attorney General’s Office alleged that Eastman violate the state’s trade and professional regulations through false and misleading statements that constitute acts of “moral turpitude, dishonesty and corruption.” In doing so, the agency said, he “violated that duty to support an attempt to usurp the will of the American people and overturn the election results for the highest office in the land – an egregious and unprecedented attack on our democracy.”
In her decision, Roland wrote, “Given the circumstances surrounding Eastman’s misconduct and the balance of aggravation and mitigation, the Court recommends that Eastman be disbarred.”
Eastman was previously a close adviser to Trump January 6, 2021, attack at the US Capitol. He wrote a memo outlining a plan for Pence to reject legitimate electoral votes for Biden while presiding over the Jan. 6 joint session of Congress to keep Trump in the White House.
Prosecutors are striving for this Eastman had his law license revoked portrayed him as a Trump enabler who fabricated a baseless theory and made false claims of fraud in hopes of overturning the election results.
Eastman’s lawyer countered that his client never intended to steal the election but was considering ways to delay the vote count so states could investigate allegations of election irregularities. Trump’s allegations of fraud have been roundly rejected by the courts, including the judges he appointed.
The judge was not persuaded by Eastman’s assertion that his actions amounted to merely a targeted portrayal of Trump.
“It is true that a lawyer has a duty to advocate vigorously for a client,” Roland wrote. “However, Eastman’s inaccurate claims were lies that cannot be justified as zealous advocacy. Eastman failed in his primary duty of honesty and violated his ethical obligations by presenting falsehoods to support his legal arguments. “In conclusion, the Court finds that moral turpitude constitutes a departure from professional norms and is clearly outside the scope of the First Amendment and the obligation of vigorous advocacy.”
The United Democracy Center of the United States, which filed an early ethics complaint against Eastman, welcomed the judge’s decision.
“This is a critical victory in the effort to hold accountable those who attempted to overturn the 2020 election. After hearing from nearly two dozen witnesses during a 35-day trial, the court concluded that John Eastman violated his ethical duties to uphold the Constitution, said Christine P. Sun, a senior vice president at the nonprofit. “This decision sends an unmistakable message: No one is above the law – neither presidents nor their lawyers.”
According to the website, Eastman has been a member of the California Bar since 1997. He served as a law clerk for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and was the founding director of the Center for Constitutional Jurisprudence, a law firm affiliated with the Claremont Institute. He ran for California attorney general in 2010 and placed second in the Republican primary.
Eastman was dean of Chapman University Law School in Southern California from 2007 to 2010 and was a professor there when he retired in 2021 after more than 160 faculty members signed a letter calling on the university to take action against him.