Former Trump lawyer John Eastman should be disbarred for role in attempting to overturn 2020 election, California judge says

A judge has recommended that conservative lawyer John Eastman lose his California law license for 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 state bar court stemming from his development of a legal strategy to have then-Vice President Mike Pence interfere with the certification of President Joe Biden’s victory.

California State Bar Court Judge Yvette Roland’s recommendation, issued Wednesday, now goes to the California Supreme Court for a final ruling on whether he should be disbarred. Eastman can appeal the high court’s decision.

Eastman’s attorney, Randall A. Miller, did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment on the judge’s decision.

The California Bar is a regulatory agency and the only court system in the U.S. dedicated to the discipline of lawyers.

He separately faces criminal charges in Georgia in the case. accusing Trump and 18 allies to conspire to reverse the Republican’s loss in the state.

Eastman, who has 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 is directed at lawyers “for their zealous defense of their clients.”

He is also one of the anonymous co-conspirators in it separate 2020 election interference case filed by special prosecutor Jack Smith, but Eastman is not charged in the federal case.

The California Bar alleges that Eastman violated the state business and professions code making false and misleading statements that constitute acts of “moral turpitude, dishonesty and corruption.”

In doing so, the agency says he “violated this duty in an attempt to usurp the will of the American people and overturn the results of the election for the highest office in the land – an egregious and unprecedented attack on our democracy.”

Eastman was a close adviser to Trump in the run-up to the January 6, 2021, attack at the United States Capitol.

He wrote a memo laying out a plan for Pence to reject legitimate electoral votes for Biden while presiding over the joint session of Congress on Jan. 6 in order to keep Trump in the White House.

Prosecutors seeking strip Eastman of his law license He described 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 responded that his client never intended to steal the election, but was considering ways to delay the counting of electoral votes so states could investigate allegations of voting irregularities.

Trump’s fraud allegations were roundly rejected by the courts, including Trump-appointed judges.

Eastman has been a member of the California Bar since 1997, according to his website.

He was a law clerk to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and founding director of the Center for Constitutional Jurisprudence, a law firm affiliated with the Claremont Institute.

Eastman ran for California attorney general in 2010 and finished second in the Republican primary.

He was dean of the law school at Chapman University in Southern California from 2007 to 2010 and a professor at the school. when he retired in 2021 after more than 160 professors signed a letter asking the university to take action against him.