John Eastman is seen giving a lecture at the Utah Valley University Center for Constitutional Studies. (Screengrab via YouTube)
The State Bar of California says disbarment proceedings against conservative attorney John Eastman should continue despite his recent indictment on RICO charges in Fulton County, Georgia.
In a filing with the State Bar Court late Tuesday, chief trial counsel for the Golden State’s attorney licensing and disciplinary organization said the 11-count case against the embattled attorney should stick to its present schedule and resume as planned on Aug. 22.
Disciplinary hearings against Eastman began in June. They are currently paused due to scheduling issues because the proceedings went on much longer than originally anticipated by the State Bar Court.
On Aug. 7, Eastman’s defense attorneys Randall Miller and Zachary Mayer filed a motion to stay the disciplinary case indefinitely by way of a procedure called abatement. Alternatively, the motion asked for a three-month stay “pending resolution of the ongoing federal criminal investigation” into former president Donald Trump’s failed efforts “to challenge the results of the 2020 presidential election.”
Eastman’s effort to pump the brakes on his disbarment case were premised on uncertainty over Trump’s then-extant federal indictment on various conspiracy charges. In that indictment, Eastman is widely believed to be referenced as unindicted “co-conspirator 2.”
Three days later, the State Bar replied that the 45th president’s federal indictment was no reason to delay Eastman’s case — since the right-wing lawyer was already well aware of his potential criminal exposure, and had been for years. This awareness, State Bar attorney Duncan Carling argued, was evident when Eastman pleaded the Fifth Amendment before both the U.S. House of Representatives’ Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6 riots and Fulton County prosecutors.
“This is nothing more than an opportunistic attempt to delay the decision in respondent’s State Bar case, as his situation with regard to potential criminal charges is the same today as when the trial started,” last week’s filing by the state bar’s lead prosecutor reads.
In the State Bar’s latest response to Eastman’s motion for abatement, Carling argued that the certainty of the defendant’s criminal exposure in Fulton County — in which the lawyer faces nine counts — should not result in an extended pause on the disciplinary hearings.
“While it is no longer uncertain whether respondent will be indicted on criminal charges, and many of the allegations in the Fulton County indictment are related to the issues in the State Bar case, the prejudice to the State Bar and the public interest in resolving the State Bar case weigh in favor of completing the trial,” the latest motion reads. “The Fulton County criminal case against respondent could take years to resolve, particularly given the number of co-defendants.”
Carling goes on to reiterate that Eastman was aware of the likelihood of facing charges in Georgia — and initially agreed to go forward with his disbarment trial “without moving for abatement” before it started.
“Now, halfway through the trial, the State Bar would be highly prejudiced by delaying the completion of trial and a decision in this case for what could be several years,” the state bar’s Tuesday motion argues. “Delaying the further presentation of evidence also risks loss of evidence.”
The self-regulating organization is seeking Eastman’s disbarment as punishment for allegedly violating its internal Business and Professions Code section 6106, which prohibits false and misleading statements that constitute acts of “moral turpitude, dishonesty, and corruption.”
Eastman, in his capacity as an attorney for Trump, along with Kenneth Chesebro, authored the controversial and so-called “coup memo,” a six-point plan to overturn President Joe Biden’s 2020 election win.
The two attorneys, the ex-president, and 16 others were named as co-defendants in a 41-count criminal indictment.
“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 the legitimate results of the 2020 presidential election by obstructing the count of electoral votes of certain states,” the State Bar said in a press release earlier this year.
Now, the group argues, it’s actually in everyone’s best interests to get the process over and done with as presently planned.
“Here, the burden on respondent in completing the trial is reduced because he has already testified on many of the issues in this case, and waived the Fifth Amendment regarding those topics,” Carling’s motion concludes. “The burden on the State Bar of postponing the remainder of the trial for an indefinite period of time, possibly several years, outweighs the burden on respondent in completing the trial.”
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