Tag: State Bar of California

Trump’s Former Attorney John Eastman Relays His Disbarment Story at Davos in the Desert’s Lawfare Event in Phoenix

Rachel Alexander

Donald Trump’s former attorney and constitutional scholar, John Eastman, spoke to the civic organization Davos in the Desert Wednesday about the lawfare he experienced, which resulted in disbarment and prosecution. The event was part of a larger conference the organization will broadcast all day on May 21, featuring legal experts discussing the lawfare against Trump.

Eastman, who was disbarred for advising Trump and representing him in challenging election illegalities in the 2020 election, began his talk by discussing how judges dismissed many of the 2020 election lawsuits for lack of standing. A judge in Pennsylvania dismissed one of their lawsuits, claiming that only the state legislature can challenge the election illegalities. However, other judges handling the 2020 election lawsuits ruled that political parties and candidates have standing.

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Trump’s Former Attorney John Eastman Files Closing Statement in Disbarment Trial, Cites ‘Orwellian’ Nature of California Bar’s Charges

Rachel Alexander

The disbarment trial of Donald Trump’s former attorney and constitutional legal scholar, John Eastman, ended November 3, with closing written arguments submitted last Friday. California Bar Disciplinary Judge Yvette Roland announced at the end of the trial that she found Eastman culpable, and will issue a written decision soon indicating whether she will fully disbar him or give a lesser punishment. Eastman is expected to appeal any negative decision.

The State Bar of California charged Eastman with violating his oath as an attorney to uphold the Constitution, by providing the Trump administration with options to handle the 2020 election illegalities that included a couple of scenarios where Vice President Mike Pence would delay or reject acceptance of the electoral slates from disputed states. 

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Disbarment Trial of Trump’s Former Attorney John Eastman Concludes, Written Closing Statements Remain

Rachel Alexander

The disbarment trial of former President Donald Trump’s previous attorney and constitutional legal scholar, John Eastman, wrapped up on Friday, the 33rd day. California Bar Disciplinary Judge Yvette Roland found him “culpable” on Thursday and gave his attorneys and the State Bar of California until November 22 to submit written closing statements.

The parties presented aggravating and mitigating testimony on Thursday and Friday, which Roland will use to consider whether to fully disbar Eastman.

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Trump’s Former Attorney John Eastman Foils California Bar Association During Disbarment Trial Cross Examination

Rachel Alexander

The disbarment trial of Donald Trump’s former attorney and constitutional legal scholar, John Eastman, began its final week Monday, as the renowned former law clerk for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas handled hours of cross-examination from State Bar of California attorney Duncan Carling. The California Bar is attempting to disbar Eastman over advice he gave Trump’s legal team regarding former Vice President Mike Pence accepting electoral slates from states suspected of election fraud in the 2020 election.

Carling asked Eastman about his belief that tens of thousands of mail-in ballots were returned in the 2020 Pennsylvania election before the date they were mailed out and wanted to know how Eastman figured out what the mailed-out date was. Eastman, who is prohibited from looking at any documents while testifying unless placed on the screen for the court, responded, “Footnote 1 of your exhibit 132.”

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In Disbarment Trial of Trump’s Former Attorney John Eastman, He Reveals How He Believes Votes Were Switched in Georgia’s 2020 Election

Rachel Alexander

The disbarment trial of Donald Trump’s former attorney and constitutional legal scholar, John Eastman, finished a partial ninth week on Tuesday, as the renowned former law clerk for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas explained how he thought fraud occurred in the 2020 election. The State Bar of California is attempting to disbar him over advice he gave Trump and former Vice President Mike Pence regarding accepting electoral slates from states suspected of election fraud.

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In Disbarment Trial of Trump’s Former Attorney John Eastman, He Discussed How Nixon Exercised Substantive Authority Accepting Electoral Slates

Rachel Alexander

The disbarment trial of Donald Trump’s former attorney and constitutional legal scholar John Eastman is in its eighth week, and expected to continue into a ninth week. On Wednesday, Eastman testified all day, focusing especially on the 1960 election and then-Vice President Richard Nixon’s role deciding which of three electoral slates from Hawaii to accept. 

Eastman said Nixon received three slates of electors from Hawaii, including one that was not certified — the second one from the Democrats. Nixon opened up all three envelopes and chose which one to accept, the third Democratic one that was certified by the governor after the recount. None of the alternate slates of electors in the 2020 election were certified by a state government entity.

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Former Trump Attorney John Eastman Testifies in His Disbarment Trial that he Told Mike Pence Rejecting Electoral Slates Would be ‘Foolish’

Rachel Alexander

The disbarment trial of Donald Trump’s former attorney and constitutional legal scholar John Eastman entered its fifth and likely final week on Tuesday, featuring testimony from Eastman and Kari Lake’s attorney Kurt Olsen. The State Bar of California is attempting to disbar Eastman for allegedly advising Trump and Vice President Mike Pence that Pence could reject electoral slates from states suspected of election fraud, but Eastman disputed that characterization of his advice on Tuesday. 

Eastman said that Pence asked him during a meeting with Trump on January 4, 2020, if the vice president had the power to reject electoral votes. Eastman responded and said it was an open question that has never been resolved, but even if Pence had the power, it would be “foolish” to exercise it. Eastman advised Pence to consider having merely a brief delay in certification in order to allow the state legislatures to investigate whether there was illegal activity that affected the election.

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California Bar Disciplinary Judge Declines to Discipline Attorney Who Tweeted About Shooting Looters, Ruled it Was Free Speech

Rachel Alexander

State bars have become notorious for bringing charges against conservative attorneys like Donald Trump’s former attorney and constitutional legal scholar John Eastman, but last week a California disciplinary court judge dismissed such politically motivated charges. California Bar Disciplinary Court Judge Dennis G. Saab ruled on October 3 that attorney Marla Anne Brown did not engage in professional misconduct by tweeting that looters should be shot, since it was protected free speech in her personal capacity. 

“The highest priority of the State Bar of California is public protection,” said Brown’s attorney Jesse D. Franklin-Murdock. “The State Bar Court lived up to that promise by reaffirming that Ms. Brown has the same First Amendment rights that all lawyers have.” 

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In Disbarment Trial of Former Trump Attorney John Eastman, Kari Lake’s Attorney Goes over Significant Laws Broken in Various States During 2020 Election

Rachel Alexander

The disbarment trial of Donald Trump’s former attorney and constitutional legal scholar, John Eastman, wrapped up its seventh week on Friday, with more testimony from Kari Lake’s attorney Kurt Olsen, and Eastman resuming the stand briefly at the end. Olsen discussed several laws he said he believes were violated by state election officials in Wisconsin, Georgia, Michigan, and Pennsylvania.

Olsen began testifying about a Motion for Leave to File a Bill of Complaint that he and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed with the U.S. Supreme Court, asking to stop Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin from certifying their 2020 election results due to multiple violations of state law and constitutional problems. One of the reasons he said he brought the complaint was that signature verification was halted in the 2020 election in Detroit. 

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In Disbarment Trial of Trump’s Former Attorney John Eastman, Retired DoD Analyst Says ‘Large Injections of Votes’ Added During Georgia Senate Runoff

Rachel Alexander

The disbarment trial of Donald Trump’s former attorney and constitutional legal scholar John Eastman is in the middle of the seventh week. On Wednesday, retired Department of Defense analyst Ray Blehar returned to the witness stand, discussing his findings that “large injections of votes” were added during the U.S. Senate runoff in Georgia in January 2021. He was followed by Dr. Stanley Young, a statistician who appears to be the only one of Eastman’s witnesses who California Bar Disciplinary Court Judge Yvette Roland has allowed to be designated as an expert witness. 

Eastman’s attorney Randy Miller asked Blehar about an email exchange he had with Eastman regarding the runoff, in which Democrat Jon Ossoff defeated Republican incumbent David Perdue. Blehar told Eastman that “large injections of votes (over 10,000) were added” on five occasions during the Georgia Senate runoff race overnight. Roland cut him off, stating that it wasn’t relevant to the charges against Eastman and was “wasting time.” The bar disciplinary charges state that Eastman “made false and misleading statements regarding purported election fraud.” 

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Witness in Disbarment Trial of Trump’s Former Attorney John Eastman Found ‘Vote Laundering’ of 280,000 to 300,000 Votes in Pennsylvania’s 2020 Election

Rachel Alexander

The sixth week of the disbarment trial of Donald Trump’s former attorney and constitutional legal scholar, John Eastman, wrapped up Friday with testimony by two witnesses from Eastman’s team. Attorney Kurt Olsen, who is representing Kari Lake in her election challenge, testified first. Next, Ray Blehar, a retired Department of Defense analyst, testified, discussing his findings that 280,000 to 300,000 votes in Pennsylvania were “vote laundered” through the electronic tabulating machines.
Olsen began his testimony explaining why he decided to become involved in an election lawsuit over the 2020 election. He said, “I believed that something was not right.” He listed what concerned him: video clips of poll workers not allowed to watch tabulation, the controversy in Michigan’s Antrim County, results that didn’t make sense such as the stopping of counting ballots overnight in key counties, and “clear violations of law.” 

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Berkeley Constitutional Law Professor John Yoo Discusses Accusations of Election Fraud in Disbarment Trial of Trump’s Former Attorney John Eastman

Rachel Alexander

The disbarment trial of Donald Trump’s former attorney and constitutional legal scholar, John Eastman, is in its sixth week. Wednesday featured more testimony by Berkeley constitutional law professor John Yoo, who was grilled by State Bar of California attorney Duncan Carling about his opinion that there was no fraud in the 2020 election—the day concluded with some direct examination of Joseph Fried, an auditor who authored the book Debunked? investigating the allegations of election fraud.

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In Disbarment Trial of Trump’s Attorney John Eastman, Berkeley Constitutional Law Professor John Yoo Contradicts California Bar’s Star Witness on the Key Issue

Rachel Alexander

The disbarment trial of Donald Trump’s attorney and constitutional legal scholar John Eastman began its sixth week on Tuesday, featuring more testimony from Berkeley constitutional law professor John Woo. The trial moved into the second half a couple of weeks ago, where Eastman’s team presents his side of the case. His attorney Randy Miller brought Woo back to contradict the testimony of the State Bar of California’s star witness, Matthew Seligman.

California Disciplinary Court Judge Yvette Roland, who donated to Democrats while serving on the bench, appeared to be a bit lost shortly after beginning Tuesday’s proceedings, asking Miller, “We’re in the midst of your case in chief right?” Shortly after that, the California bar’s attorney Duncan Carling told Roland that Yoo never claimed that there were dueling sets of electors in the 2020 election, which she did not remember. 

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Testimony from Georgia Election Integrity Expert Continues in Disbarment Trial of Trump’s Attorney John Eastman

Rachel Alexander

The fifth week of the disbarment trial of former President Donald Trump’s former attorney and constitutional legal scholar, John Eastman, is winding down with direct and cross-examination of Garland Favorito, co-founder of Voters Organized for Trusted Election Results in Georgia (VoterGA), who has extensive experience with electronic voting machines and investigating election fraud in Georgia. The State Bar of Georgia is trying to prove that Eastman gave Trump advice when he suggested that one option after the 2020 presidential election would be to have Vice President Mike Pence refuse to accept electoral slates from states suspected of election fraud or delay the certification.

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Georgia Election Fraud Expert Testifies at Disbarment Trial of Trump’s Attorney John Eastman, Casts Doubt on Biden’s Win

Rachel Alexander

The disbarment trial of Donald Trump’s attorney and constitutional legal scholar John Eastman continued on Tuesday, into its fifth week. Eastman’s attorney Randy Miller questioned expert witness Garland Favorito, co-founder of Voters Organized for Trusted Election Results in Georgia (VoterGA), who has extensive experience with electronic voting machines and investigating election fraud in Georgia.

A former trial lawyer and evidence professor told The Arizona Sun Times that he thinks California Bar Disciplinary Judge Yvette Roland’s actions in the trial are so egregious that even the California Supreme Court — which is composed of all Democrats — may not uphold a disbarment. Instead, he thinks the court might issue a reprimand or some smaller amount of discipline. While serving on the bench, Roland donated to Democrats including California Governor Gavin Newsom.

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Berkeley Constitutional Law Professor John Yoo Testifies at Disbarment Trial of John Eastman That Vice Presidents Can Reject Electoral Slates

Rachel Alexander

The disbarment trial of former President Donald Trump’s former attorney and constitutional legal scholar, John Eastman, started its fifth week with testimony from Eastman’s star witness, Berkeley Constitutional Law professor John Yoo. The State Bar of California contends that Eastman gave Trump advice when he said one option to deal with the allegations of election fraud in disputed states was to have former Vice President Mike Pence refuse to accept the electoral slates from those states or delay their certification, but Yoo said the majority of scholarship on the issue agrees with Eastman’s position.

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Week Four of Disbarment Trial of Trump’s Attorney John Eastman Wraps Up with More Testimony About Wisconsin’s Botched 2020 Election

Rachel Alexander

The disbarment trial of Donald Trump’s attorney and constitutional scholar, John Eastman, concluded its fourth week on Friday, as Eastman’s team put on his case featuring their key witness, former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman. The Wisconsin Assembly contracted Gableman to conduct a small investigation into election fraud in the state’s 2020 election, the same issues prompted Eastman’s involvement in the election litigation in Wisconsin.

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Explosive Testimony from Former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice at Disbarment Trial of Trump’s Attorney John Eastman

Rachel Alexander

The disbarment trial of Donald Trump’s attorney John Eastman is in its fourth week, and on Thursday the State Bar of California rested its case and Eastman’s attorney began putting on witnesses, beginning with former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman. Gableman was directed by the Wisconsin Legislature to conduct a minimal investigation of the 2020 election, and he revealed numerous instances where he believed the law was broken, and had election officials referred for prosecution.

Thursday’s proceedings began with wrapping up the California bar’s case, as its attorney Duncan Carling finished his cross-examination of Eastman. He asked Eastman if the alternate slates of electors were valid, then could any private group of citizens submit slates to the vice president who would have to consider them? Eastman responded and said the difference is that in 2020, the slates were composed of electors “formally nominated by their own party,” not private people who chose themselves. He referenced a woman in Tennessee who submits her own private slate of electors regularly that gets ignored. Neither she nor her “slate” have been prosecuted or disciplined. 

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Week Four of the Disbarment Trial of Trump’s Attorney John Eastman Brings Out Reasons Judges Dismissed Election Cases

Rachel Alexander
John Eastman

The fourth week of the disbarment trial of Donald Trump’s attorney John Eastman resumed on Tuesday, with State Bar of California attorney Duncan Carling continuing his cross-examination of the constitutional scholar.  The bar is trying to take away his license to practice law due to advising Trump that Vice President Mike Pence may have had the authority to reject electoral slates from states suspected of election fraud.

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Former State Elections Director Under Hobbs Testifies at Disbarment Trial of Trump’s Attorney John Eastman

Rachel Alexander

The disbarment trial of Trump’s attorney and constitutional legal scholar John Eastman resumed this past week on Thursday and Friday, and continues next on Tuesday, September 5. On Friday, Eastman’s attorney Randy Miller cross-examined the State Bar of California’s expert witness Matthew Seligman, an election fraud denier and attorney who serves as a  fellow at the Constitutional Law Center at Stanford Law School, and former Secretary of State Elections Director Bo Dul also testified.

Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch, posted on X regarding the proceedings, “Kangaroo court proceedings in California to disbar John Eastman, one of the nation’s leading constitutional lawyers, for daring to provide legal advice on the Biden election controversy.”

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Second Week of Disbarment Trial of Trump Attorney John Eastman Wraps Up

Rachel Alexander

The second week of the disbarment trial of Trump attorney and constitutional scholar John Eastman concluded Friday, with testimony from the State Bar of California’s (SBC) expert witnesses Justin Grimmer and Jonathan Brater, director of the Michigan Bureau of Elections (MBE). Grimmer is a political science professor at Stanford.

Much of SBC attorney Duncan Carling’s questions to Grimmer consisted of asking him to debunk claims of election fraud, prompting First Amendment attorney Mark Fitzgibbons to tweet, “Am I wrong, but isn’t this bizarre CA Bar trial of Trump lawyer Dr John Eastman hearing more evidence than all the pre-Jan 6 election litigation challenges combined?” Analyzing election fraud claims did not come up in the 2020 election cases, since the judges dismissed them on technicalities without getting to the merits.

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Second Week of Disbarment Trial of Trump Attorney John Eastman Resumes

Rachel Alexander

The second week of the State Bar of California’s (SBC) disbarment trial against Trump attorney John Eastman resumed on Thursday, after a brief break due to one of the attorneys becoming sick. Throughout much of the day, SBC attorney Duncan Carling grilled Eastman about his allegations of illegal activity occurring in the 2020 election.

Carling repeated many of Eastman’s claims from the pleadings he filed in cases like Trump v. Raffensperger, prompting First Amendment attorney Mark Fitzgibbons to tweet, “The CA Bar lawyer is actually doing more to convince us the election illegalities merited what Prof Eastman recommended to his client. Courts rejecting cases on standing without EVER hearing evidence did a terrible injustice to the Constitution, and disenfranchised voters.” 

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First Week of Disbarment Trial of Trump Attorney John Eastman by Judge Who Contributes to Democrats Concludes

Rachel Alexander

The first week of the disbarment hearing of Trump attorney John Eastman concluded on Friday, with State Bar of California (SBC) attorneys putting Eastman on the witness stand again along with Nevada Deputy Secretary of State for Elections Mark Waschin. The SBC continued to try and show that Eastman provided bad advice to President Donald Trump by telling him that one option for handling election fraud in the 2020 election would be to have Vice President Mike Pence reject certification of electoral votes from the disputed states.

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Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer Testifies During Third Day of Disbarment Trial of Trump Attorney John Eastman

Rachel Alexander

The third day of the State Bar of California (SBC) disbarment trial of Trump attorney John Eastman took place on Thursday, with the SBC calling Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer and Jonathan Marks, Deputy Secretary for Elections and Commissions in Pennsylvania, as witnesses. Richer is a Republican who started a PAC for election fraud-denying Republicans, and Marks was appointed to the position under then-Secretary of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Kathryn Boockvar, a Democrat.

Attorneys for Eastman and the SBC conducted direct and cross-examination of the two witnesses. Shortly into the direct examination of Richer, as he began testifying about his confidence regarding Dominion voting machine tabulators, Eastman’s attorney Randy Miller expressed his concern to the SBC disciplinary Judge Yvette Roland that she was allowing the SBC’s witnesses like Richer to present one side but not allowing Eastman’s witnesses to testify on the same topic. He said it was “quite prejudicial,” only “getting half the story.” Roland did not change her mind. 

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State Bar of California’s Star Witness at Disbarment Trial of Trump Attorney John Eastman Helps Eastman

Rachel Alexander
John Eastman

The second day of the State Bar of California’s (SBC) disbarment trial of Trump attorney John Eastman on Tuesday featured mostly direct and cross-examination of the prosecution’s star witness, former Pence attorney Greg Jacob. Jacob was put on the witness stand by the SBC to debunk Eastman’s advice that Vice President Mike Pence did not have the authority to reject electoral slates from states suspected of going to Joe Biden due to election fraud, but Jacob gave testimony to the contrary several times. 

Eastman’s attorney Randy Miller asked Jacob about a memo he wrote where he stated that “scholars disagree” whether it’s the vice president’s responsibility to substantively deal with accepting electoral slates. Jacob admitted, “There is a section in the Constitution that is at best ambiguous whether the vice president can reject electoral slates.” He cited three legal scholars who wrote articles arguing that the vice president has somewhat of a substantive role in that area. He said this question was “debated and disputed” in law review articles.

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State Bar of California Begins Trial to Disbar Trump’s Attorney John Eastman Over 2020 Election

Rachel Alexander

The State Bar of California (SBC) began a trial on Tuesday seeking to disbar conservative legal scholar John Eastman over his role advising former President Donald Trump and state legislatures on challenging the 2020 election results. The proceedings arose out of a complaint against him made by the States United Democracy Center (SUDC). SUDC is run by a former Obama appointee, Norm Eisen, and its advisory board includes former Arizona governor and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano.

The SBC charged Eastman with 11 ethics violations in January. Eastman filed a 100-page response containing thousands of attachments, and published a rebuttal on his Substack. He said the SBC’s complaint “is filled with distortions, half truths, and outright falsehoods.”

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