John Eastman just lost more than a legal argument in California. The state's highest court on Wednesday upheld his disbarment, ordering the lawyer who pushed an aggressive plan to help President Trump undo Joe Biden's 2020 win removed from the state's roll of attorneys, Politico reports. The move caps a three-year disciplinary fight over Eastman's role in pressuring then-Vice President Mike Pence to try to block certification of the Electoral College results on Jan. 6, 2021. Eastman, a former Supreme Court clerk and who was listed as a co-conspirator in special counsel Jack Smith's federal election interference probe against Trump, is also suspended in Washington, DC, and other bar authorities typically follow disbarments with their own reciprocal actions.
Eastman's allies and critics cast the ruling in sharply different terms. Constitutional lawyer Matthew Seligman, a key witness at the disbarment trial, called it "a just end to a story of injustice," arguing Eastman misused his legal skills to undermine voters' will. Eastman's attorney, Randall Miller, called the outcome a "threat to the rule of law," saying it tramples lawyers' First Amendment protections and vowing to ask the US Supreme Court to intervene. Other Trump-aligned attorneys tied to 2020 election challenges, including Rudy Giuliani and Kenneth Chesebro, have also been disbarred. In addition to his disbarment, Eastman faces a $5,000 sanction, CNN reports. He's among the many people connected to alleged 2020 election schemes for whom Trump issued blanket pardons, though those only apply to federal charges, which NBC News reports Eastman does not face.
,
uBlock 
,
and
Ghostery 
)
