Eastman appeals disbarment recommendation before State Bar

A judicial panel last week heard an appeal of a recommendation to disbar California attorney John Eastman, whose counsel argued that his activities challenging the legality of the 2020 presidential election were protected by the First Amendment.

The California State Bar’s Review Department heard appeal arguments on March 19 in Los Angeles. Last year, the State Bar’s Hearing Department found Eastman guilty of 10 of 11 proposed counts of misconduct and “moral turpitude” and recommended disbarment.

At this month’s hearing before a panel of judges, the State Bar’s Office of Chief Trial Counsel (OCTC) argued that in the wake of the 2020 election, Eastman, who specializes in constitutional law, promulgated ideas he knew to be false: that the election results were put in doubt by illegalities and that then-Vice President Mike Pence had the authority to stop the electoral vote count in Congress so that alleged irregularities could be investigated.

“Whether Eastman’s myth of a stolen election was premised on fraud or illegality, his plan to stop the electoral count also rested on his promulgation of a legal theory that was false, injurious, and violative of basic democratic norms and values,” a brief filed by the State Bar’s OCTC said. “The notion that Pence could unilaterally exercise final and unreviewable power to decide the outcome of the presidential election in which he had a vested interest is absurd.”

But Eastman’s attorneys allege that the OCTC is spinning a misleading tale that Eastman was the “grand architect” of a so-called effort to reject a free and fair election.

“Dr. Eastman’s interpretation of the vice president’s authority under the 12th Amendment was, in (the OCTC’s) view, a manifestation of ‘moral turpitude,’ despite it being a demonstrably unresolved question of constitutional law that has been debated by scholars and elected officials throughout our nation’s history and was copiously debated by informed participants on both sides of the political aisle in the lead-up to and aftermath of the 2020 election – the very essence of what is undeniably protected by the First Amendment,” a brief from Eastman’s attorneys states.

Eastman's clients have in the aftermath of the 2020 election included President Trump.

A State Bar spokesman outlined the parties’ positions at the most recent review hearing.

“Mr. Eastman sought review (an appeal) of culpability on all 10 counts and the disbarment recommendation,” the spokesman told the Southern California Record in an email. “The State Bar’s Office of Chief Trial Counsel sought review of the Hearing Department’s dismissal of count 11 and its rejection of any aggravation for significant harm.”

Count 11 refers to the allegation that Eastman’s actions by themselves and in tandem with co-conspirators helped to provoke a crowd gathered at the White House Ellipse on Jan. 6, 2021, to storm the Capitol to stop the confirmation of electoral votes.

Eastman’s qualification to practice law in California remains on involuntary inactive status, according to the State Bar. He has been charged with felonies before Fulton County Superior Court in Georgia and Maricopa County Superior Court in Arizona for his alleged role in a “fake electors scheme.”.

“As far as next steps, the Review Department has 90 days to issue its opinion after the matter is taken under submission, which occurred on March 19,” the spokesman said. “Either party may seek review of the Review Department’s opinion with the California Supreme Court.”

Eastman’s attorneys have also accused the State Bar’s Hearing Department of conducting a biased trial and that Eastman was denied his right to due process, a neutral arbiter and the ability to defend himself by calling witnesses. But the State Bar has stated that the proceeding involving the State Bar’s Hearing Department spanned 35 days and involved 23 witnesses as well as more than 700 exhibits.