California bar investigators ripped John Eastman for submitting letters written by Republican Representatives Marjorie Taylor Greene and Matt Gaetz in support of his motion to keep his law license.
Eastman, former attorney for Donald Trump who faces racketeering and conspiracy counts in Georgia, was also leveled with 11 misconduct charges from the State Bar of California, accused in efforts to keep the former president in power after the 2020 election. State Bar Court Judge Yvette Roland ruled last month that Eastman violated ethics rules when advancing Trump’s claims of voter fraud, and recommended that the conservative lawyer be banned from practicing law in California.
Roland’s ruling bars Eastman from practicing law for the moment, pending a final decision by the California Supreme Court. But in a court filing earlier this month, Eastman requested that the judge stay her order for the moment so he could continue working as a lawyer for clients he is already representing—and earn money to pay his legal bills.
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State Bar of California attorneys on Wednesday countered by filing a motion urging Roland to ignore Eastman’s request, arguing that the attorney “has not met the high burden of showing that, notwithstanding the recent disbarment recommendation, he no longer poses a threat of harm.”
State bar attorneys specifically pointed at Eastman’s work representing Gaetz and Greene, both close allies of Trump, in a lawsuit against two California cities that canceled the Republicans’ political rallies in 2021. During a hearing for the civil case on March 22, the presiding judge ripped Greene and Gaetz for also attempting to bring legal actions against a number of progressive groups that pushed for the cancellations, calling it “both legally and literally, a conspiracy theory.”
Gaetz and Greene also sent letters to the State Bar of California urging for Eastman to be allowed to continue to represent them in the case.
“[Eastman]’s motion further demonstrates his continuing ‘complete denial of wrongdoing,’ which as cited above was a basis for the Court’s finding that disbarment was appropriate to protect the public,” state bar attorneys wrote in their filing Wednesday.
“In support of his motion, [Eastman] has chosen to submit declarations of certain of his clients that, despite the irrelevance of this point to respondent’s arguments, assert their belief that the disciplinary charges in this matter have no merit,” the attorneys continued. “This Court found that respondent’s ‘complete failure to understand the wrongfulness of his actions’ is ‘concerning’ … Respondent’s motion and supporting declarations show that he continues to misunderstand his duties as an attorney and his misconduct.”
After Roland’s ruling in March recommending that Eastman lose his license, his attorney, Randall Miller, told Newsweek that “Dr. Eastman maintains that his handling of the legal issues he was asked to assess after the November 2020 election was based on reliable legal precedent, prior presidential elections, research of constitutional text, and extensive scholarly material.”
“The process undertaken by Dr. Eastman in 2020 is the same process taken by lawyers every day and everywhere—indeed, that is the essence of what lawyers do,” the statement from Miller continued. “They are ethically bound to be zealous advocates for their clients—a duty Dr. Eastman holds inviolate. To the extent today’s decision curtails that principle, we are confident the Review Court will swiftly provide a remedy.”
Newsweek reached out to Miller via email for comment late Thursday night.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.