🎙️ Voice is AI-generated. Inconsistencies may occur.
Former Donald Trump lawyer John Eastman could be the next person to flip on the former president after a judge in a disciplinary hearing found him preliminary culpable for trying to overturn the 2020 election results, according to a legal expert.
On Thursday, a California State Bar Court judge overseeing an 11-count misconduct trial against Eastman, which could see him stripped of his legal license, made a "preliminary finding" of culpability against the lawyer's attempts to stop the certification of the 2020 election results, and that the court would move forward to hear mitigating and aggravating circumstances.
The decision from State Bar Court Judge Yvette Roland on the 32nd day of the trial does not mean that Eastman has been found to have committed the 11 disciplinary charges related to his "false and misleading statements" regarding election fraud allegations, but is one step closer to being suspended or disbarred from practice, as sought by prosecutors.
Reacting to the ruling, former federal prosecutor and MSNBC legal analyst Joyce Vance suggested that Eastman may now be the next person to cooperate against the former president in a criminal case. Eastman is one of 18 people who was indicted alongside Trump in the Georgia election interference investigation, where four defendants have already taken a plea deal in exchange for their testimony.
"If John Eastman loses his license in the bar proceeding, it incentives him (or would incentivize a rationale person) to plead & cooperate in the criminal case to avoid prison (since he's already lost his license)," Vance posted on X, formerly Twitter.
Eastman has denied any wrongdoing as part of his disciplinary trial. Eastman's legal team has been contacted for comment via email.
The former Trump attorney has pleaded not guilty to all charges against him as part of Fulton County Fani Willis' sprawling RICO election interference case. Eastman is accused of being part of a plot to appoint fake electors to falsely declare Trump had beat Biden in Georgia and other states during the last election.
Former Trump lawyers Jenna Ellis, Sidney Powell, and Kenneth Chesebro, along with bail bondsman Scott Hall, have already pleaded guilty and agreed to testify against the other defendants after they were charged under Willis' investigation.
During Thursday's California State Bar Court disciplinary hearing, Eastman was asked about Ellis' guilty plea and whether he agreed to testify because of a risk of jail time and expensive legal fees.
"That certainly calls into question whether those plea statements can be applied to others," Eastman said, via Law.com.
Eastman was also listed as one of Trump's six alleged co-conspirators in Special Counsel Jack Smith's federal indictment against the former president as part of the investigation into attempts to overturn the 2020 election results for orchestrating the alleged plot to pressure former Vice President Mike Pence to not certify the election results on January 6, 2021, despite knowing the scheme was potentially illegal.
Eastman has not been charged as part of the federal investigation into attempts to overturn the 2020 election results and the events which led up to the January 6 attack. Trump has pleaded not guilty to all charges against him in both investigations.
The California State Bar Court set a November 22 deadline for both sides to submit their final briefs for Eastman's disciplinary hearing.
About the writer
Ewan Palmer is a Newsweek News Reporter based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on US politics, and Florida ... Read more