Indicted on state charges in Georgia; up for potential disbarment in California; de-banked by two of his banks, and facing further investigation by federal prosecutor Jack Smith, pro-Trump attorney John Eastman is standing firm.
Mr. Eastman has not backed away from his belief that every American has a right to question and challenge the outcome of elections—a stand that has cost him and his family dearly.
Criticizing election results has been criminalized by Fulton County, Georgia prosecutor Fani Willis, he says.
A Democrat, Ms. Willis has charged Mr. Eastman with multiple felonies for legal work he performed in the state for former President Donald Trump in the aftermath of the 2020 election.
According to Mr. Eastman, last fall, in a process called “de-banking,” Bank of America and the financial institution USAA canceled his accounts without warning, causing him great inconvenience.
Depository agreements and established bank policies give many banks the power to close accounts without providing any explanation.
De-banking is seen by Republicans as a means of punishing people for their political beliefs.
Bank of America spokesman Bill Halldin told The Epoch Times: “We don’t comment on clients so we wouldn’t comment on Mr. Eastman. I can say that political viewpoints are not a factor in any account closing discussion.”
USAA did not respond to a request for comment.
Recently, California State Bar Court Judge Yvette Roland recommended that Mr. Eastman be disbarred for his expressed beliefs concerning alleged fraud and irregularities in the conduct of the 2020 presidential election.
The action imperils Mr. Eastman’s ability to earn a living. The case is under appeal in the California Supreme Court.
In 2022, federal authorities seized Mr. Eastman’s cell phone as he was exiting a restaurant.
A Double Standard?
Democrats challenged presidential election results in the hope of affecting the outcome in 1960, 2000, and 2016 with no legal penalties.Presenting an alternative slate of electors, influencing electors to vote their conscience rather than according to their statutory obligation, and multiple court challenges were some of their tactics.
Special counsel Jack Smith is demanding documents and scrutinizing the role of Mr. Eastman in designing the Trump team’s complex Jan. 6 legal strategy.
The approach contended, among other things, that, at the joint session of Congress on January 6, 2021, the vice president of the United States, upon objection by a single congressman or senator (from a disputed state), could set aside for further investigation by the state’s legislature the contested Electoral College reports.
The Eastman strategy also advanced the legal theory that the vice president could reject the Electoral College slates from disputed states and then choose to accept an alternate slate of electors.
Randall Miller, Mr. Eastman’s attorney, said in a public statement, “Dr. Eastman maintains that his handling of the legal issues he was asked to assess after the November 2020 election was based on reliable precedent, prior presidential elections, research of constitutional text, and extensive scholarly material.”
The suggested action was political hardball rejected by Vice President Mike Pence, who said the move was unconstitutional.
Mr. Eastman, 64, is a graduate of the University of Chicago Law School. He holds a Ph.D. from Claremont University Graduate School and is a former professor and dean of the Chapman University School of Law.
A former law clerk for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, Mr. Eastman is the founding director of the Center for Constitutional Jurisprudence, a public-interest law firm connected with the Claremont Institute, a conservative think tank.
During his career, Mr. Eastman ran unsuccessfully as a Republican candidate for Congress in California, as well as for state attorney general.
New York attorney and Republican politician Wendy Stone Long, a former law clerk for Supreme Court Justice Thomas and former co-worker of John Eastman for several years, was a character witness for him in his California Bar trial.
In a piece written for Chronicles Magazine, Ms. Long wrote, “We don’t live in a free country anymore. The persecution now unfolding of two American lawyers, John Eastman and Jeff Clark, tells the tale.”
Ms. Long wrote of the ramifications of the two men’s situation:
“It presages trouble…for the rule of law itself and all of us who live under the freedom and protection it provides. The rule of law is under attack in America by the very persons and institutions meant to uphold it.”
A conservative attorney, Jeff Clark served as an assistant attorney general in the Trump administration. He is believed to have consulted with Mr. Trump about his legal options following the 2020 election.
Mr. Clark faces possible disciplinary action including potential disbarment in Washington, D.C. for his allegedly unethical actions.
