California State bar regulators filed disciplinary actions against conservative lawyer John Eastman due to his efforts in trying to overturn the 2020 election for Donald Trump. The state seeks to disbar Eastman, who once clerked for Justice Clarence Thomas.
“The Office of Chief Trial Counsel (OCTC) intends to seek Eastman’s disbarment before the State Bar Court,” the state bar of California wrote in a news release about the filing.
The filing contains 11 charges arising from allegations that “Eastman engaged in a course of conduct to plan, promote, and assist then-President Trump in executing a strategy, unsupported by facts or law, to overturn the legitimate results of the 2020 presidential election by obstructing the count of electoral votes of certain states.”
They specifically cited Eastman’s “false and misleading statements regarding purported election fraud, including statements on January 6, 2020, at a rally in Washington, D.C., that contributed to provoking a crowd to assault and breach the Capitol to intimidate then-Vice President Pence and prevent the electoral count from proceeding.”
They add, “Eastman now faces multiple charges that he violated Business and Professions Code section 6106 by making false and misleading statements that constitute acts of ‘moral turpitude, dishonesty, and corruption.’”
“There is nothing more sacrosanct to our American democracy than free and fair elections and the peaceful transfer of power,” the State Bar of California’s Chief Trial Counsel George Cardona said. “For California attorneys, adherence to the U.S. and California Constitutions is their highest legal duty. The Notice of Disciplinary Charges alleges that Mr. Eastman violated this duty in furtherance of an attempt to usurp the will of the American people and overturn election results for the highest office in the land—an egregious and unprecedented attack on our democracy—for which he must be held accountable.”
Eastman, who crafted two infamous “coup memos” in an attempt to circumvent the peaceful transition of power to 2020 winner now President Joe Biden, is the director of the Center for Constitutional Jurisprudence at the conservative Claremont Institute, where he is a member of the Board of Directors and a senior fellow.
Eastman has not been charged with any crime. This was a notice of charges filed, which are only allegations at this point.
Eastman was also referred to the DOJ for potential criminal charges by the House January 6th Committee on two counts. One is based on alleged obstruction of an official proceeding and the second is conspiracy to defraud the United States.
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