Ex-Trump Lawyer Stripped of License Over 2020 Election 'Misconduct'

A California lawyer who once worked closely with President Donald Trump has now lost his right to practice law in the state.

The California Supreme Court has disbarred John Eastman, a lawyer who worked with Trump and helped devise a plan to challenge the results of the 2020 presidential elections by pressuring then-Vice President Mike Pence to block certification of the results.

The incident has raised serious questions about legal ethics and accountability.

As Eastman’s case has been under investigation for a long time, a judge had already suggested in 2024 that the Trump-allied attorney should lose his law license.

Eastman had argued back then that he was only doing his job by providing legal advice. He insisted that he should not be penalized for sharing his views.

Officials from the State Bar of California, however, have disagreed.

On Wednesday, April 16, George Cardona, chief trial counsel for the State Bar of California, said the court's decision was supported by evidence that Eastman "advanced false claims about the 2020 presidential election to mislead courts, public officials, and the American public."

According to the Associated Press, Cardona stated, “The Court’s order underscores that Mr. Eastman’s misconduct was incompatible with the standards of integrity required of every California attorney.”

Cardona stressed that the court’s decision shows that Eastman’s actions did not meet the standards expected from a lawyer.

Meanwhile, Eastman’s lawyer, Randall Miller, pushed back against the ruling, saying it “raises pivotal constitutional concerns.”

He also said that they plan to take the case to the U.S. Supreme Court because the statement “departs from long-standing United States Supreme Court precedent protecting First Amendment rights, especially in the attorney discipline context.”

Despite Miller’s attempt to overturn the ruling, a democracy group has welcomed the decision to disbar Eastman.

The States United Democracy Center, which first filed a complaint against the California lawyer, claimed that Eastman's actions caused serious harm.

Christine P. Sun, senior vice president of the organization, said in a statement, "His unethical actions have had real, lasting consequences for our democracy."

Sun's statement followed years of scrutiny of Eastman's role as a close adviser to Trump before the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Eastman had proposed that Pence could reject certain electoral votes to keep Trump in power. Prosecutors argued that Eastman created false claims about election fraud to overturn the results.

This, however, is not the only lawsuit that Eastman has faced.

Previously, Eastman also faced criminal charges in Georgia for conspiring to overturn the Republican Party's loss in the state, but the case was later dismissed.

Trump subsequently pardoned Eastman and others for federal crimes linked to the election. Earlier, 160 faculty members from the Chapman University School of Law, where Eastman served as a professor, signed a letter calling for action against him.