Ex-Trump lawyer John Eastman faces disbarment for his part in the 2020 election mess

Judge Yvette Roland says Eastman violated ethics rules by aiding in Trump's efforts to flip Biden's win

By Kelly McClure

Nights & Weekends Editor

Published March 27, 2024 9:52PM (EDT)

John Eastman (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
John Eastman (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

In a 128-page opinion handed down on Wednesday, California Bar Court judge Yvette Roland recommends that Ex-Trump lawyer John Eastman have his law license revoked, highlighting his part in the attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 election as being a major ethics violation.

"In view of the circumstances surrounding Eastman's misconduct and balancing the aggravation and mitigation, the court recommends that Eastman be disbarred," Roland writes, with the State Bar alleging that he "engaged in a course of conduct to plan, promote, and assist" Trump in his efforts to overturn the 2020 election, per Axios

One of 18 people indicted alongside Trump, Eastman is often referred to as being "one of the architects" of Trump's strategy to flip Biden's win, although he has vowed to contest the charges against him. 

As The Los Angeles Times points out, Eastman claimed he was acting in good faith, and as a vigorous champion of his client. But State Bar attorneys argued “the evidence, including his often not-credible trial testimony, shows that he held — and still holds — truth and democracy in contempt, deliberately disregarding facts that demonstrate the validity of Biden’s victory to further a false narrative that would ignore the Constitution, disenfranchise millions of voters, and undermine a democratic election for President of the United States in favor of his allegiance to Trump.”


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