June 20, 2023 03:14 PM UTC

John Eastman's Day of Reckoning Finally At Hand

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• by: Colorado Pols

As the Washington Post’s Jacqueline Alemany reports, hearings seeking the disbarment of former University of Colorado visiting conservative scholar and more recently the attorney selected by the Colorado Republican Party to fight Colorado’s open primary laws, John Eastman, are underway today in California:

Eastman is facing 11 charges stemming from allegations that he was the architect of the legal road map Trump followed in an effort to overturn the legitimate results of the 2020 election by obstructing the electoral vote count in certain states.

Eastman is also accused of making false and misleading statements regarding alleged election fraud, the State Bar alleges, referencing claims he made at a rally at the Ellipse outside the White House that preceded the deadly riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. If Eastman is found culpable for the allegations, he could lose his license to practice law in the California…

The California Supreme Court will ultimately decide whether Eastman is culpable of the alleged misconduct warranting discipline, such as suspension or disbarment.

Unlike Eastman’s fellow coup plotter Jenna Ellis, who was recently censured by Colorado state attorney regulators for her multiple false statements concerning the 2020 presidential election, John Eastman isn’t technically licensed to practice law in Colorado. The states of California and Colorado have a bar reciprocity agreement in which a lawyer admitted to practice law in one state can do so in others that allow the same, but that’s not the same as Colorado attorney regulators having direct jurisdiction over Eastman.

The flip side of that is if Eastman is disbarred by the state of California, he’ll likely no longer be able to represent clients in state or federal court, including the Colorado Republican Party in its federal lawsuit seeking to overturn 2018’s Proposition 108 which opened the party’s primaries to unaffiliated voters. The likelihood of some kind of punishment being meted out by the California bar up to disbarment makes Eastman an odd choice for the Colorado GOP to rely on–unless he’s the only choice they had, of course. Not to mention the need to raise precious money to pay him.

Eastman’s central role in the plot to challenge the certification of Joe Biden’s victory on January 6th, which included or at least allowed for the violence that day to help delay the certification, wasn’t fully understood until the January 6th Select Committee’s investigation conclusively documented it. Eastman’s misconduct disgraced the highly regarded Chapman University he was primarily employed by as well as the University of Colorado, who employed Eastman during the period he was developing the plan to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

Eastman’s Colorado connection became a hot potato in the 2022 midterm elections, especially for CU Regent Heidi Ganahl who fumbled to put distance between herself and Eastman while simultaneously embracing the election conspiracy in her campaign for governor. Outside of MAGA diehard circles and the Colorado GOP, Eastman has very few remaining friends. Even the conservative Orange County Register this weekend called for Eastman to be disbarred:

Eastman didn’t storm the Capitol, attack police or defecate in Capitol hallways – at least not literally. [Pols emphasis] But, as Politico explained, he “spent the final weeks of the Trump administration stoking false claims of election fraud in order to put pressure on GOP-led state legislatures to appoint alternate slates of presidential electors.” He authored an infamous memo gaming out scenarios to keep Trump in power.

We would oppose any prosecution of him given that dark plotting doesn’t amount to law-breaking, but we appreciate the State Bar of California’s effort to strip him of his law license. Whatever the results, the hearing, which includes several witnesses, should expose Eastman’s shame-worthy behavior.

If Jenna Ellis’ lack of remorse after censure is any example, Eastman will never say sorry.

But he can be punished, and that punishment can serve as a deterrent to the next John Eastman.