Colorado GOP still backs Eastman despite disbarment finding for Jan. 6

A special disbarment judge in California suspended John Eastman’s law license late last month. She noted his utter lack of remorse in advising former President Donald Trump that the 2020 presidential election was stolen by Joe Biden, and formulating a strategy to block Biden’s election and return Trump to the White House.

Following his legal defeat, which he has appealed, Eastman spoke to 710 KNUS conservative radio host and attorney Randy Corporon, who along with Eastman, is representing the Colorado Republican Party in a lawsuit against Colorado’s voter-approved open primaries law, which allows independent voters to participate in either party primary.

Corporon has been prepared for this eventuality since last August, when he told another KNUS host, George Brauchler, that even if disbarred, Eastman could still work on the Colorado GOP lawsuit, he just wouldn’t be “signing documents or arguing in court.”

Ever defiant, Eastman told Corporon that “the big lie” is not promoted by Trump, but by Biden and that Trump did not foment a coup on Jan. 6, but that in fact Biden did so, successfully.

“The real big lie is calling him (Trump) a big liar because there was lots of evidence of illegality and fraud, and they want to pretend it doesn’t exist,” said Eastman. “And as a result, people will forget about it. But they stole the damn election. I mean, let’s be very clear. There’s no question about it in my mind.”

Eastman’s ongoing insistence that the election was stolen and that he is being persecuted for saying so is notable given that the judge who ruled he should be disbarred cited precisely those claims as reason to punish him.

“Given the serious and extensive nature of Eastman’s unethical actions, the most severe available professional sanction is warranted to protect the public and preserve the public confidence in the legal system,” Judge Yvette Roland ruled. Judge Roland bashed Eastman’s lack of contrition, noting that he was aware his claims of election fraud were weak, ignoring evidence that didn’t fit his legal theories and accepting fraud claims without any due diligence.

Nevertheless the Colorado Republican Party continues to support Eastman, even soliciting funds for him personally. Eastman is also raising money (over $725,000) via the conservative site GiveSendGo, where he characterizes disbarment proceedings and other lawsuits, as “lawfare,” meaning using the law to attack political enemies.

What does disbarment mean?

The news that John Eastman has been disbarred by the California Bar Association, is a serious blow to the lawyer at the heart of the January 6, 2021 attempt to deny the presidential election win to Joe Biden, but it also exposes former President Donald Trump to new lines of questioning by prosecutors, and possibly new charges.

Disbarment is the most severe sanction for attorney misconduct, involving the removal of a lawyer’s license to practice law. Eastman, a one-time lawyer for former President Donald Trump, cannot practice law in California, nor before any federal court in the country, after a special judge recommended disbarment on 10 counts of ethics violations and misconduct. 

The disbarment is automatically appealed to the California State Supreme Court, which must rule on the appeal in 30 days. Until the appeal is decided, Eastman cannot practice law. 

Eastman does not have a license to practice law in either New Mexico (where he has a home) or in Colorado, where he was 2020-2021 guest professor at the University of Colorado’s Bruce D. Benson’s Center for the Study of Western Civilization. If Eastman’s appeal is upheld, then he still can practice law, at least until the resolution of the criminal charges he faces in Georgia.

Eastman isn’t waiting for that appeal process to play out, however. Wednesday he filed a motion directly with Judge Roland asking her to stay her suspension of his license because he has several ongoing cases with clients, including the Colorado GOP, he doesn’t want to disappoint. 

Former state Sen. Kevin Lundberg, whom state GOP chair Dave Williams appointed to lead the party’s Special Litigation Committee, submitted a declaration to the court saying Colorado Republican knew Eastman might lose his license when they hired him, but they considered the charges meritless. He also noted that losing Eastman will cost the party money: “Should [Eastman] be barred from continuing his representation, the lead counsel duties would fall to others, imposing both added costs and loss of Dr. Eastman’s specific expertise upon the Colorado Republican Party.”

Judge Roland found that Eastman was essentially the chief coup plotter, whose six-page memo outlined how the election win could be denied to Biden if Vice-President Mike Pence rejected the Jan. 6 congressional certification of President Joe Biden’s election.

Roland’s 128-page decision concluded:

“Eastman conspired with President Trump to obstruct a lawful function of the government of the United States; specifically, by conspiring to disrupt the electoral count on January 6, 2021, in violation of (the federal conspiracy statute.)”

Eastman is also alleged to have conspired to get several swing state legislatures, to appoint alternate electors who could throw their state electoral votes to Trump, and with it, the election.

At the core of Eastman’s arguments were that there were significant instances of ballot fraud, yet top White House and Justice lawyers all told Trump there was no significant fraud that could justify challenging election results.

Coupled with Eastman’s disbarment, the warnings Trump received mean the former president cannot easily use an “advice-of-counsel” defense – that his Jan. 6 actions followed Eastman’s advise in good faith. Further, this sort of defense waives attorney-client privilege, meaning confidential communications between Eastman and Trump are now open for examination by the prosecution in both the Jan. 6 District of Columbia case, as well as the Georgia case, where Eastman allegedly helped Trump’s attempt to turn over the 2020 election.

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

CORRECTION: This article initially stated that Eastman has a home in Arizona. He has one in New Mexico. Information about reciprocity rules in California was removed.