Trump ally John Eastman is disbarred over bid to overturn 2020 election

By David Thomas

April 15 (Reuters) – The California Supreme Court stripped conservative attorney John Eastman of his law license on Wednesday over his efforts to overturn U.S. President Donald Trump’s 2020 election loss to Democrat Joe Biden.

The court did not immediately release an opinion explaining its decision, which followed a state bar court’s determination that Eastman violated attorney ethics rules.

Eastman’s disbarment “affirms the fundamental principle that attorneys must act with honesty and uphold the rule of law, regardless of the client they represent or the context in which that representation occurs,” George Cardona, the State Bar of California’s chief trial counsel, said in a statement.

Randall Miller, Eastman’s lawyer, said in a statement they will file an appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court.  

A former law professor at Chapman University in California, Eastman represented Trump in a long-shot lawsuit at the U.S. Supreme Court that sought to invalidate votes in four states where the Republican former president had falsely claimed evidence of widespread 2020 voter fraud.

Eastman also drafted legal memos weeks after the election suggesting then-Vice President Mike Pence could refuse to accept electoral votes from several swing states when Congress convened to certify the vote count. Pence rebuffed his arguments, saying he did not have legal authority to do so under the U.S. Constitution.

Eastman repeated many of his election claims at a rally outside the White House on January 6, 2021, after which a mob of Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol and delayed congressional certification of the election.

A judge on California’s State Bar Court recommended Eastman’s disbarment in a March 2024 decision, determining that his efforts to derail Biden’s victory were “unlawful and lacked any factual or legal support.” Eastman’s law license was suspended as he appealed the finding.

The State Bar Court’s appellate division last year found that Eastman violated California attorney ethics rules against misleading courts and making false public statements.    

Eastman pleaded not guilty to criminal charges in Arizona and Georgia for his efforts to overturn Biden’s election victory in both states. In November, a prosecutor in Georgia dropped all charges against Trump, Eastman and other defendants in the state’s case.

(Reporting by David Thomas; Editing by Nia Williams)