Eastman also sent to Republican senator Mike Lee a six-point plan of action for Pence to throw out the electors from seven states to keep Trump in power, which Lee rejected. ET: This story has been updated to include more information about the disciplinary charges from the notice filed by the bar. According to the warrant, the phone was to be taken to a forensic lab of the Department of Justices Office of Inspector General. Attorney John Eastman (left) speaks next to Then-President Donald Trump's attorney Rudy Giuliani in Washington, D.C., January 6, 2021. [115], Judge Carter ruled in October 2022 that Eastman must turn over an additional 33 documents to the January 6 committee, including eight he determined were ineligible for attorney-client privilege because they related to possible criminal activity. [52], Erwin Chemerinsky, the dean of Berkeley Law School, told the BBC, "Under section 1 of the 14th Amendment, anyone born in the United States is a United States citizen. The pair were linked both personally and . Even after the insurrection, Eastman was still trying to overturn the election Even after Jan. 6, Eastman was still talking about the 2020 election not yet being certain. It Wasn't Pretty", "Fact check: No, Pence can't overturn the election results", "AP FACT CHECK: Trump's false claims, fuel on a day of chaos", "FACT CHECK: What Pence And Congress Can And Can't Do About The Election", "Chapman University will not fire law professor who spoke at pro-Trump Capitol rally", "Chapman University President Condemns Controversial Law Professor Who Aided Trump", "CU Boulder won't fire conservative scholar who spread "repugnant" conspiracy theories at D.C. rally", "Faculty call for firing of Chapman University professor who spoke at pro-Trump rally", "What if there had been no adults in the room on January 6? Eastman wasnt shy about his beliefs: He spoke at a Trump rally near the White House just hours before the January 6 riot, telling a crowd of Trump supporters we know there was fraud and election officials had ignored or violated state law, while he stood alongside Rudy Giuliani (Eastman has argued the rally, unlike the riot, was peaceful). Lawyer John Eastman has been hit with disciplinary charges and should be disbarred for his alleged involvement in former President Donald Trump's bid to throw out the 2020 election results,. [71][72] That same day, together with Giuliani and Boris Epshteyn, he appeared on Steve Bannon's podcast The War Room and promoted the idea that state lawmakers needed to reconsider the election results. But the committee argued Eastman's use of university email destroyed any attorney-client privilege to keep the documents confidential. The regulatory group said itll seek the revocation of Eastmans law license after charging him with 11 ethics violations for allegedly making false statements in public, and for misleading courts. [55] Lorelei Laird, in an Above The Law article, pointed out that Eastman was arguing that Harris was not even a U.S. The Bar's committee chair said, "For California attorneys, adherence to the U.S. and California Constitutions is their highest legal duty,"[123] adding 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. Before he urged Vice President Mike Pence to unilaterally hand the 2020 election to Donald Trump, right-wing lawyer John Eastman, who represented Trump after the election, floated a somewhat. [23], In 1989, prior to attending law school, Eastman served as the director of Congressional and public affairs at the United States Commission on Civil Rights. Even after the insurrection, Eastman was still trying to overturn the election Even after Jan. 6, Eastman was still talking about the 2020 election not yet being certain. During his time in law school, Eastman worked on the University of Chicago Law Review. The two-page memo from attorney John Eastman first was reported in the new book "Peril" by Bob Woodward and Robert Costa; CNN also obtained a copy of the plan, which hinged on Electoral College . "[98][99][100] Douglas Letter, general counsel to the House, said about Eastman asking Pence to delay Biden's certification, "It was so minor it could have changed the entire course of our democracy. Mr. Eastman and his father, who was also named Lee, worked with a long roster of big-name clients over the years, including Andrew Lloyd Webber, David Bowie, Elton John and the estates of Tennessee Williams and the painter Francis Bacon. Aside from Mr. McCartney, they were best known for working with Mr. Joel in the late 1980s and early 90s, when he sued his former manager and lawyer. More than 60 courts rejected election fraud claims by Trump and his allies. Kowalke and NJP lawyer Goriune Dudukgian argued Eastman's lifetime membership in the far-right group made him disloyal and therefore ineligible to hold office in Alaska under the state . Or to keep it anonymous, click here. Filing of a complaint "typically takes 2-3 weeks after getting authorization," Yates wrote to Newsline in an email Wednesday evening. [32][33][34], On February 1, 2010, Eastman resigned as dean of the Chapman University School of Law to pursue the Republican nomination for California Attorney General. John C. Eastman, a conservative legal scholar from California, came up with a plan that would . [84], According to testimony given to the January 6 Committee by former White House lawyer Eric Herschmann, Eastman emailed Giuliani several days after the storming of the Capitol, asking to be placed on the list of those to be given a presidential pardon before Trump's term in office ended. So who is John Eastman? Exclusive: Trump's Team Setting Up Eastman to Take Blame for Jan. 6. [56], This op-ed was cited by the New York Times as helping Eastman come to the attention of Jenna Ellis, a Trump campaign adviser. In March 1971, the judge ruled in Mr. McCartneys favor, appointing a receiver for the Beatles business interests until the dissolution of their partnership could be negotiated, which came several years later. John L. Eastman, McCartneys Lawyer in Beatles Strife, Dies at 83, https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/15/arts/music/john-l-eastman-dead.html. [2] [3] He is a former professor and dean at the Chapman University School of Law. Eastman Trumps personal lawyer when he was in office penned a six-step legal plan claiming then-Vice President Mike Pence didnt have to accept the election results in certain swing states, which Pence rejected. [57], In early December 2020, Trump contacted Eastman, asking him to challenge the results of the 2020 United States presidential election before the Supreme Court. But John Lennon and the other Beatles had selected another New Yorker to manage the group: Allen Klein, who had worked with Sam Cooke and the Rolling Stones. [22], Eastman graduated from the Dallas-area Lewisville High School and received his undergraduate degree from the University of Dallas. [90] Eastman referred to an "antifa and BLM guy" who had been arrested after the Capitol incursion, an apparent reference to John Earle Sullivan, a Utah man who some characterized as an "antifa leader" who had supposedly infiltrated the rally crowd to instigate the insurgency. The State Bar of California charged Eastman, a former personal lawyer to Trump, with 11 counts of ethics violations, including misleading courts and making false public statements about . The January 6 committee subpoenaed Eastman in November. The next year, after briefly working in the office of the United States attorney for the Eastern District of New York, he and his father set up Eastman & Eastman. Trump did not issue a pardon to Eastman. John Eastman, the mediocre lawyer who apparently participated in a treasonous effort to veto the 2020 U.S. Presidential popular vote and electoral count, resides in Santa Fe, which annoys many . "[21][102], Seventeen months after the election, Eastman continued to press state legislatures to "de-certify" their election results. A former clerk to Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, Eastman helms the Center for. [91] Black Lives Matter Utah had for months disassociated itself from Sullivan on concerns he might be associated with the Proud Boys. He was a dean and professor at the Chapman University School of Law. The case was settled; the terms were not disclosed, but Mr. McCartney has been registering the American ownership of those rights under MPL. [75][76][77], On January 6, Eastman spoke alongside Giuliani at the "Save America" rally that preceded the 2021 storming of the United States Capitol and asserted without evidence that balloting machines contained "secret folders" that altered voting results. "[123], On January 9, 2021, the chairman of Chapman's board of trustees and two other members (including former Democratic Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez) called on the university's president and provost and the law school's dean "to promptly take action against Eastman for his role in the events of Jan. [125][127], The University of Colorado cancelled Eastman's Spring 2021 courses due to low enrollment. Trump lawyer Herschmann testified that on the morning of Jan. 6 he received a call from. Several news outlets reported Wednesday the committee got emails between Eastman and Ginni Thomas, a right-wing activist married to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas who pushed to overturn Bidens winbut the emails contents arent known. The case was settled, and the Eastmans helped Mr. Joel rebuild his business. Scholars say there's no VP eligibility debate", "The White Supremacist "Scholars" Pushing the Kamala Harris Birther Lie", "Newsweek apologizes for op-ed questioning Harris eligibility", "Ahead of Jan. 6, Willard hotel in downtown D.C. was a Trump team 'command center' for effort to deny Biden the presidency", "During Jan. 6 riot, Trump attorney told Pence team the vice president's inaction caused attack on Capitol", "Trump lawyer John Eastman said 'courage and the spine' would help Pence send election to the House in comments before January 6", "Trump Lawyer Blamed Pence for Violence as Rioters Stormed Capitol - John Eastman, the author of a memo that some in both parties liken to a blueprint for a coup, sent a hostile email to the vice president's chief counsel as the mob attacked", "Washington Post: Trump lawyer John Eastman blamed Pence for January 6 violence by refusing to block 2020 election certification", "The most shocking new revelation about John Eastman - He and Trump were not just pressing forward despite the mob; they apparently were trying to leverage it", "Memo shows Trump lawyer's six-step plan for Pence to overturn the election", "UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA SOUTHERN DIVISION JOHN C. EASTMAN Plaintiff, vs. BENNIE G. THOMPSON, et al., Defendants. Both were legal quagmires that flouted the U.S. Constitutionand Trump had a lawyer for each one. Trump in recent weeks has told confidants that he sees no reason to defend the lawyer who tried to help him overturn the 2020 . While it is unlikely that conservative lawyer John Eastman will testify publicly before the Jan. 6 committee, his name and the legal advice he gave former . Chesebro continued, "We want to frame things so that Thomas could be the one to issue some sort of stay or other circuit justice opinion saying Georgia is in legitimate doubt." Eastman laid out this plan in a pair of January 2021 memos obtained by news outlets last year, and reportedly spoke with Pence and his team in the leadup to January 6 to win him overbut Pence and his advisors firmly rejected Eastmans argument. The judge further denied Eastman's second choice, "Taxpayer Advocate/Attorney", but accepted his third choice, "Constitutional Law Attorney". He is the host of Law&Crime podcast "Objections: with Adam Klasfeld.". Mr. Eastman served on the boards of a number of prominent organizations, including the American Museum of Natural History, and two music groups, the National Music Publishers Association and the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, known as ASCAP. He is a founding director of the Center for Constitutional Jurisprudence, a public interest law firm affiliated with the Claremont Institute. For California attorneys, adherence to the U.S. and California Constitutions is their highest legal duty. The bar review of John Eastman's conduct in the run-up to and aftermath of the Jan. 6 insurrection has begun, and how the case unfolds is uncertain. Chapman School of Law professor John Eastman testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, March 16, 2017. Mr. Eastman was the brother of Linda McCartney, Mr. McCartneys first wife, and Lee was her father. stands onstage as Rudy Giuliani speaks in Washington on January 6, 2021. [26], Eastman served as an attorney for the State of South Dakota, representing it in a denied petition to the U.S. Supreme Court in a constitutional challenge to federal spending. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. With the Eastmans guidance, Mr. McCartney also acquired ownership of all of his recordings and songwriting rights since the breakup of the Beatles. It could have meant the popularly elected president could have been thwarted from taking office. Eastman . [27], Eastman has represented the North Carolina legislature and the State of Arizona in unsuccessfully petitioning the Supreme Court in cases involving same-sex marriage,[28] abortion,[29] and immigration. Thanks for contacting us. "[58][59][60] Two days later, on December 12, the Supreme Court declined to hear the case, finding that Texas did not have standing saying Texas "has not demonstrated a judicially cognizable interest in the manner in which another state conducts its elections. Former lawyer of former President Donald Trump, John Eastman, appears on screen during the fourth hearing by the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the US Capitol in the Cannon House Office Building on June 21, 2022 in Washington, DC. Carter found that one Eastman email exchange showed Trump had sworn under oath that the number of alleged voting fraud cases his attorneys cited in a Georgia federal suit was accurate, though he knew it was not. Mr. McCartney half-complied: He appeared in a suit, but no tie. citizen. We've received your submission. Eastman subsequently implored Vice President Pence to violate the Electoral Count Act to delay certification of the election,[16] via Pence's legal counsel Greg Jacob, who responded by calling Eastman a "serpent in the ear of the president of the United States". I still cannot understand why Paul acted as he did, George Harrison said in an affidavit. The strategy hinged partly on a dubious plan to get swing-state Republicans to sign off on alternate electors falsely deeming Trumpnot Bidento be the winner of their states: In a set of December 2020 emails to one Pennsylvania GOP lawmaker, Eastman suggested legislators could assert the right to appoint an alternate slate of electors or subtract mail-in ballots from Trump and Bidens totals at a prorated amount.. At Wikipedia, don't even ask. 193726), a California licensed attorney. Former Chapman University professor John Eastman is among the individuals whom the Jan. 6 committee has recommended face federal criminal charges for their roles in the attack on the Capitol on . Former lawyer of former President Donald Trump, John Eastman, appears on screen during the fourth hearing by the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the US Capitol in the Cannon House Office Building on June 21, 2022 in Washington, DC. In addition to his son Lee, he is survived by his wife, Josephine; another son, Jay; a daughter, Louise; two sisters, Louise Weed and Laura Malcolm; and 11 grandchildren. 6." Their connection was both professional and personal. John was a great man, Mr. McCartney wrote on Twitter last week, along with a photo of him with Mr. Eastman in yoga poses. [2][5] He is a former law clerk to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. [121] On January 26, 2023, Eastman was charged with multiple disciplinary counts by the State Bar of California. (Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images). [17] On January 13, 2021, Eastman retired from the Chapman University faculty after the controversy created by his having spoken at the Trump rally. [41][42] He is a director of the Public Interest Legal Foundation, which brings election lawsuits. An. [122]. Trump, himself a one-time believer in the birther theory, reacted to the op-ed by telling reporters Eastman is a brilliant lawyer.. For the member of the Wisconsin State Senate, see, Legal strategies to reject electoral votes, Actions during the January 6th attack on the Capitol, United States House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack, United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, 2010 California Attorney General election, challenge the results of the 2020 United States presidential election, Attempts to overturn the 2020 United States presidential election, 2021 storming of the United States Capitol, crime-fraud exception to the attorney-client privilege, List of law clerks of the Supreme Court of the United States (Seat 10), "Who is 'Coup Memo' author John Eastman and what role did he play in pushing Trump's plan to derail democracy? He was born in Lincoln, Nebraska. In March, federal Judge David Carter called Eastman and Trumps post-election efforts a coup in search of a legal theory, and argued its more likely than not that President Trump and Dr. Eastman dishonestly conspired to obstruct the Joint Session of Congress., Dr. Any lawyer engaged to provide his or her legal assessment in a dynamic, consequential, and often emotional arena should be deeply troubled by the notion that a licensing authority (bar) can take their license if they do not like the lawyers advice, or find the advocacy distasteful, Millers statement said. His mother had inherited a fortune from the Lindner department store in Cleveland. [50], All prominent legal scholars disagreed with Eastman's position, and many compared it to the birtherism theory against President Barack Obama. Mr. Klein had a reputation as a ferocious negotiator and, as Mick Jagger once described him, a gangster figure the opposite of the refined Eastmans, whose townhouse office in Manhattan was lined with museum-quality paintings by de Kooning and others. The finding came in the context of civil litigation involving discovery by the Jan. 6th Committee. Lawyer John Eastman has been hit with disciplinary charges and should be disbarred for his alleged involvement in former President Donald Trumps bid to throw out the 2020 election results, according to the California State Bar. [105], In a late-night court filing on May 19, 2022, Eastman disclosed he had routinely communicated with Trump directly or via "six conduits" regarding legal strategy leading up to January 6, detailing "two hand-written notes from former President Trump about information that he thought might be useful for the anticipated litigation." The California native attended Chapman University law school, where Donald Trump's election lawyer John Eastman formerly taught, before moving to Tennessee, and he served for a time as webmaster . 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, Cardona said. He asserted she could not be a U.S. citizen by birth despite being born in Oakland, California, if neither of her parents was a permanent resident at the time of her birth. John Eastman, a law professor at the Fowler School of Law at Chapman University who had drawn increasing scrutiny over his controversial involvement with some of Donald Trump's more. Eastman responded that "Mike Pence is an establishment guy" who fears that Trump is "destroying the inside-the-Beltway Republican Party. On June 27, Eastman asked a federal judge to compel the government to return his phone and destroy its records of the phone's contents. Chesebro responded: "the odds of action before Jan. 6 will become more favorable if the justices start to fear that there will be 'wild' chaos on Jan. 6 unless they rule by then, either way." Newsweek defended the column, while acknowledging that they were "horrified that this op-ed gave rise to a wave of vile Birtherism directed at Senator Harris". Paul McCartney took to social media to pay respects to his brother-in-law John Eastman, who passed away from pancreatic cancer on Tuesday at age 83. The 61-year-old lawyer's rsum features some of the top credentials of the conservative legal movement: clerkships with former Judge Michael Luttig and Justice Clarence Thomas, the chairmanship. Eastman is the author of the so-called coup memo, a six-point plan to overturn the election results. Eastman briefly met with Trump campaign advisors in a Philadelphia hotel room the weekend after the 2020 presidential election. Eastman still persisted with his election fraud claims long after that date, through at least Jan. 6, 2021. [4] He ran unsuccessfully as a Republican for California's 34th congressional district in 1990, and for the office of California Attorney General in 2010. The California bar slapped former President Donald Trumps attorney John Eastman with nearly a dozen disciplinary charges for false and misleading statements alleging fraud in the 2020 election. [74][75][76][77][78] Pence later released a letter stating he would not attempt to intervene in the certification process, citing Luttig by name, who later said it was "the highest honor of my life" to be involved in preserving the Constitution. Eastman also made similar statements outside the White House on Jan. 6, 2021 before the Capital riot ensued. 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.. [emailprotected], Law&Crime's managing editor Adam Klasfeld has spent more than a decade on the legal beat. Politics Jun 16, 2022 12:57 PM EST. [4] Carter noted one email in particular that contained what he found was likely evidence of a crime and ordered it disclosed under the crime-fraud exception to the attorney-client privilege. Early in their work with Mr. McCartney, the Eastmans helped him set up what would become MPL Communications, his entertainment company. The article was harshly criticized as both a bizarre reading of constitutional law and a possible wink to the birther conspiracy theory, which falsely contended former President Barack Obama wasnt born in the United States. On Thursday, McCartney, 80, posted to Instagram to share that Eastman, who was the brother of McCartney's late wife Linda McCartney, has died. 193726).The 11 charges arise 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 . "My dear brother-in-law, John Eastman, has passed . Exhibit N", "How Pence used 43 words to shut down Trump allies' election subversion on Jan. 6", "Chapman professor will retire after uproar over his speaking at Trump rally", "Law Prof Who Spoke at White House Rally Abruptly Retires Amid Calls for His Firing", "Federal Judge Finds Trump Most Likely Committed Crimes Over 2020 Election", "Judge: 'More likely than not' that Trump 'corruptly attempted' to block Congress from counting votes on January 6", "Jan. 6 committee sends DOJ historic criminal referral of Trump over Capitol riot", "The University of Chicago Law Review Volume 62 Masthead", "California's 34th Congressional District", "Dean John Eastman On The Powers Of The Senate Vis--vis The SCOTUS Vacancy", "Search - Supreme Court of the United States", United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, "Challengers Find the Road to Congress Is Uphill Struggle: Elections", "Eastman resigns as Dean of the Chapman University School of Law", "2 AG hopefuls from O.C. The State Bar of California unveiled new disciplinary charges against John Eastman for his involvement in former President Donald Trump's efforts to block th. A federal judge in California previously found that Trump and Eastman more likely than not violated two felony statutes in their attempts to overturn the election: obstruction of an official proceeding and conspiracy to defraud the United States. They developed a specialty in working with pop musicians whose business had suffered under previous representatives. A private Facebook group named "FrontLiners for Liberty," which included over 50 people and was created in August 2020, showed Thomas as an administrator. On or about December 1, 2020, Attorney General Barr, who headed the United States Department of Justice, which had monitored state elections for fraud and illegality, publicly stated that to date, we have not seen fraud on a scale that could have effected a different outcome in the election.'. [13][14] Pence did not accept Eastman's argument. Despite their enormous success, the Beatles were then on the brink of insolvency. The entertainment lawyer John L. Eastman in 2011. [25], Following law school, he clerked for Judge J. Michael Luttig at the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and for Justice Clarence Thomas at the Supreme Court of the United States; he then was an attorney with the law firm of Kirkland & Ellis, specializing in civil and constitutional litigation. The lawyer spoke at Trumps rally that day at the Ellipse. Giuliani will join his colleague John Eastman in the dubious distinction of . Yates declined to answer . [126] Eastman published a statement the next day saying that those who publicly condemned him "have created such a hostile environment for me that I no longer wish to be a member of the Chapman faculty, and am therefore retiring from my position, effective immediately." Eastman wrote: "the odds are not based on the legal merits but an assessment of the justices spines." 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