State Bar charges John Eastman, lawyer who advised Trump on overturning the election, with ethics violations

The State Bar of California filed disciplinary fees Thursday in opposition to Orange County lawyer John Eastman, accusing him of a number of ethics violations stemming from his actions whereas advising then-President Trump on tips on how to overturn the 2020 election.

The costs may very well be step one to Eastman shedding his California legislation license.

Eastman, a former professor and dean at Chapman College’s Fowler Faculty of Legislation, emerged as a key authorized advisor to Trump within the weeks after Joe Biden gained the presidency.

Eastman helped develop a authorized and political technique selling the false declare that the outcomes have been tainted by fraud and misconduct by election officers, in line with a 35-page charging doc filed by the State Bar.

Within the months that adopted, the U.S. lawyer common and others advised the Trump marketing campaign that there was no proof of widespread fraud that might have affected the result of the election. Dozens of courts dismissed instances alleging fraud.

Nonetheless, the State Bar alleges, Eastman continued to work with Trump to advertise the lie of a stolen election.

Eastman have to be held accountable for his position in “an egregious and unprecedented assault on our democracy,” George Cardona, the State Bar’s chief trial counsel, stated in a press release.

An lawyer’s highest responsibility is abiding by the federal and state constitutions, and Eastman violated that responsibility, Cardona wrote.

The 11 disciplinary fees in opposition to Eastman embrace failure to assist the Structure and legal guidelines of the US, misrepresentation, looking for to mislead a court docket, and making false and deceptive statements that represent acts of “ethical turpitude, dishonesty and corruption.”

State Bar officers stated they intend to hunt Eastman’s disbarment earlier than the State Bar Court docket.

In a Substack submit, Eastman stated the State Bar submitting is “stuffed with distortions, half-truths and outright falsehoods.” Within the submit, which seeks funds for his authorized protection, he additionally asks for prayers.

Eastman’s lawyer, Randall A. Miller, stated in a press release that his consumer “disputes each side of the motion that has been filed in opposition to him by the State Bar.”

“The criticism filed in opposition to Eastman that triggered immediately’s motion by the State Bar is a part of a nationwide effort to make use of the bar self-discipline course of to penalize attorneys who opposed the present administration within the final presidential election,” the assertion stated. “Individuals of each political events ought to be troubled by this politicization of our nation’s state bars.”

The State Bar alleges that Eastman wrote authorized memos — one in December 2020 and one other on Jan. 3, 2021 — advising Vice President Mike Pence that he may declare that election ends in seven states have been in dispute. This is able to have led to electoral votes going uncounted and will have opened the door for Trump to stay president.

Within the second memo, Eastman asserted that the “election was tainted by outright fraud (each conventional poll stuffing and digital manipulation of voting tabulation machines),” in line with the state bar submitting.

Eastman knew or ought to have recognized that the assertion was “false and deceptive,” the State Bar submitting stated.

In a speech to tens of 1000’s of Trump supporters on the Nationwide Mall in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6, Eastman stated that “lifeless folks had voted” and that digital voting machines made by the Dominion firm had altered the election outcomes.

Eastman’s feedback constituted an “act of ethical turpitude, dishonesty and corruption,” have been “false and deceptive” and helped provoke the group to assault the Capitol, the submitting stated.

Eastman has a protracted historical past in California’s conservative authorized circles. He was employed by Chapman’s legislation faculty in 1999 and was dean from June 2007 to January 2010, then continued to show programs in constitutional legislation, property legislation, authorized historical past and the first Modification.

He retired in early 2021 after greater than 100 Chapman school and others affiliated with the college signed a letter calling on the varsity to take motion in opposition to him for his position within the Jan. 6 rebellion.

Thursday’s fees are the results of a prolonged investigation into Eastman’s actions that started in 2021. In October of that 12 months, the nonpartisan authorized group States United Democracy Middle filed an ethics criticism calling on the State Bar to analyze Eastman’s Jan. 6 actions.

Christine P. Solar, a senior vice chairman on the States United Democracy Middle, stated in a press release Thursday that Eastman “abused the authorized system and violated the oath he swore as an lawyer, in an try to dam the need of the folks and forestall the peaceable switch of energy.”

The extent of element included within the submitting signifies that the State Bar is taking the allegations in opposition to Eastman severely, stated UC Berkeley Legislation Dean Erwin Chemerinsky.

“John Eastman was a part of a concerted effort to overturn the election, and I feel it’s so necessary that we not lose sight of how distinctive and disturbing these occasions have been,” he stated. “They’ve by no means been seen earlier than on this nation. This can be a reminder that it’s not about partisanship — what went on then was inconsistent with democracy.”