Colorado GOP plans to keep Eastman on lawsuit team as it looks to block unaffiliated voters from primary elections

Even if he loses his law license due to his involvement in Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election, former Trump attorney John Eastman will continue working on Colorado Republican Party’s case to stop unaffiliated voters from participating in primary elections, according to a lead attorney on the case.

“It just precludes [Eastman] from signing documents or arguing in court, and he’s got colleagues at his constitutional counsel group that are just absolutely brilliant,” said Randy Corporon, another attorney — in addition to Eastman — who’s representing Republicans in the case, when asked by KNUS radio host George Wednesday if Coporon had “any concerns at all” about Eastman continuing to represent the Colorado Republican Party in its lawsuit.

“It seems very likely to me, given where his disbarment proceedings are occurring and some of the rulings from the judge that I just thought were extraordinary, barring witnesses and experts and different things — that his license is at risk,” said Corporon on air. “Now, whether he’ll be able to hang on to that through an appeal process or whether he’ll be temporarily, if not disbarred, suspended during this court is an issue.”

Could Eastman’s appearance as a co-conspirator in the Trump indictment “derail” Eastman’s participation in the case, which would overturn Colorado’s Proposition 108, Brauchler asked Corporon. 

“Certainly, as far as a distraction goes, yeah, we know exactly where the corrupt, coordinated, Democrat-controlled media machine will go in the different ways that they attack this case,” Corporon told Brauchler on air. “If Eastman is charged criminally, that will, as it is with Donald Trump, you know, that’ll be a long process.”

Eastman on Friday admitted to the “likelihood that formal charges will be brought” against him in the Trump case, the one in which he is currently listed as a co-conspirator.

Eastman made the admission in a motion to the California State Bar Court on Friday, asking the court, in light of the Trump indictment related to either 1) delay his case for three months to allow for an “updated assessment of the scope of the ongoing investigation” or 2) put his case on hold pending the “resolution” of Trump’s indictment. 

Former state Sen. Kevin Lundberg (R-Berthoud), who’s overseeing a state Republican Party committee’s work on the open-primary lawsuit, told Colorado Politics Friday that he has “no qualms” about Eastman’s continued participation. 

“He’s competent and qualified and the right man for the job, I believe,” Lundberg told Colorado Politics reporter Ernest Luning, pointing out that Eastman was involved in a U.S. Supreme Case court in 2000 that struck down a California law that all voters cast ballots for candidates from any party in primary elections. 

The leader of the Colorado Republican Party, Dave Williams, didn’t respond to phone message asking if he’d favor keeping Eastman on the open-primary case if Eastman were disbarred. 

Lundberg continued fundraising for the open-primary lawsuit in an email on Friday, stating, “Please join us by contributing to the funds that have been set up to launch this significant challenge to Colorado’s open primary system.”

“The most direct way to contribute is to the Colorado open primary lawsuit fund, set up by the Claremont Institute for Constitutional Jurisprudence, which is a 501(c)(3) organization. These contributions can be tax-deductible when itemizing your tax deductions,” stated the email. “… If you prefer you may also give directly to the Colorado Republican Party‘s lawsuit fund with a donation that is not tax deductible. Please note that these funds are for the exclusive purpose of the Colorado lawsuit and will not be used for the endorsement or promotion of any political candidates.”

The close and ongoing relationship between Eastman, who’s among the top-line poster children for election lies nationally, and the Colorado GOP shows that state Republicans are continuing to embrace issues (e.g., election conspiracies) and leaders (e.g., Trump) that are widely believed to spell doom for GOP candidates in Colorado elections. 

Proposition 108 was passed by Colorado voters in 2016 to allow unaffiliated voters to participate in the state’s primary elections. 

In an interview with Braucher this morning, Complete Colorado’s Sherri Peif said “nearly 100%” of the governing body of Colorado’s Republican Party remains supportive of expunging unaffiliated voters from the GOP primary — even if they voted down a measure on Saturday that might have made it easier to achieve that goal via a vote of the governing body. 

“I will say, that is the one thing that nearly 100% of the state central committee can agree on. I mean, everybody is behind the lawsuit, you know?” said Peif on air. “That’s the way to go. Nobody – I don’t think there was probably a person in that room – or a person who sent their proxy to that room – that voted for Proposition 108. Nobody wants the semi-open primary that Colorado currently has. They want to go back to the way that primaries are supposed to be: if you want to vote in a primary, affiliate with a party!”

Editor’s note: This story first appeared on Colorado Times Recorder.