Ex-Trump lawyer should be disbarred, California judge rules

SANTA ANA – A California State Bar hearing judge Wednesday recommended disbarment for one-time Chapman University law school dean John Eastman for his role as former President Donald Trump’s attorney in attempts to delay or block the certification of the election of President Joe Biden.

The hearing judge, Yvette D. Roland, also recommended Eastman, who was admitted to the State Bar in 1997, pay $10,000. Half of the $10,000 fine is for filing lawsuits “seeking to mislead the courts,” and the other half is for “making numerous false and misleading statements” regarding the 2020 election and certification of the vote.

FILE – Attorney John Eastman, the architect of a legal strategy aimed at keeping former President Donald Trump in power, talks to reporters after a hearing in Los Angeles, June 20, 2023. A judge has recommended that conservative attorney Eastman lose his California law license over his efforts to keep Trump in power after the 2020 election. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)

It will now be up to the state Supreme Court to make a final ruling on the recommended disbarment.

Eastman’s attorney, Randall Miller, issued a statement saying, “we are confident the review court will swiftly provide a remedy.”

In her ruling, Roland rejected Eastman’s arguments that he was acting in good faith on behalf of a client — Trump. She noted that, “Even if Eastman honestly believed he acted in good faith, it was not objectively reasonable for him to have such belief,” she wrote.

She also faulted him for not comprehending the allegations against him “Despite the compelling evidence against him … Eastman remains defiant, refusing to acknowledge any impropriety whatsoever in his actions surrounding his efforts to dispute the 2020 presidential election results,” Roland wrote in her opinion. “His lack of insight into the wrongfulness of his misconduct is deeply troubling.”

She added: “Eastman’s complete denial of wrongdoing, coupled with his attempts to discredit legitimate disciplinary proceedings are concerning. While Eastman is entitled to defend himself, his conduct goes beyond this, revealing a complete failure to understand the wrongfulness of his actions.”

Eastman began making national headlines when he addressed the crowd of Trump supporters in Washington, D.C., before the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol aimed at halting the certification of President Joseph Biden’s election. It set off a firestorm at Chapman University, where some faculty and students pushed for the ouster of Eastman, who had been its law school dean from 2007-10. Eastman agreed to retire in January 2021.

A year later, Eastman sued the congressional Jan. 6 committee seeking to block lawmakers from accessing his Chapman emails. That litigation ultimately led U.S. District Judge David O. Carter to turn over some emails that would normally be kept private by law because Carter concluded there was evidence a crime was committed in efforts to overturn the election results.

Eastman then faced discipline from the State Bar, which sought to disbar the constitutional scholar. Eastman and his attorneys sparred with the
Bar’s lawyers for 35 days of trial that included 23 witnesses.

During the trial, Eastman was indicted in Georgia with multiple other defendants, including the ex-president, on election fraud charges.

Miller noted the criminal case in Georgia, arguing it was unfair to strip his client of his law license as he prepares to defend himself.

“Any reasonable person can see the inherent unfairness of prohibiting a presumed-innocent defendant from being able to earn the funds needed to pay for the enormous expenses required to defend himself, in the profession in which he has long been licensed,” Miller said. “That is not justice and serves no legitimate purpose to protect the public.” (CNS)