His brother-in-law Paul McCartney his sister Linda Eastman was Mr. McCartneys first wife was a client for more than 50 years. John L. Eastman, McCartney's Lawyer in Beatles' Strife, Dies at 83 "[54] One day after publishing Eastman's op-ed, Newsweek published an opinion piece by legal scholar Eugene Volokh, titled "Yes, Kamala Harris is Eligible to be Vice President", in which Volokh argues that Harris is a "natural-born citizen" under the U.S. Constitution and is therefore eligible to be vice president. John Eastman, the mediocre lawyer who apparently participated in a treasonous effort to veto the 2020 U.S. Presidential popular vote and electoral count, resides in Santa Fe, which annoys many . (Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images) Former lawyer of former President Donald Trump, John Eastman, appears on screen during the fourth hearing by the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the US Capitol in the Cannon House Office Building on June 21, 2022 in Washington, DC. [57], On December 9, 2020, Eastman represented Trump in a motion to intervene in Texas v. Pennsylvania, a case filed directly in the U.S. Supreme Court by Texas attorney general Ken Paxton, in which the state of Texas sought to annul the voting processes and, by extension, the electoral college results of at least four other states. [23], In 1989, prior to attending law school, Eastman served as the director of Congressional and public affairs at the United States Commission on Civil Rights. As the House January 6 panel unpacks the results of its months-long probe, lawmakers are expected to spend part of their Thursday hearing examining the role of John Eastman, a once-obscure legal scholar who vaulted into former President Donald Trumps inner circle ahead of the Capitol riot by pushing dubious legal strategies to keep Trump in office. John Charles Eastman (born 1960) is an American lawyer who is the founding director of the Center for Constitutional Jurisprudence, a public interest law firm affiliated with the conservative think tank Claremont Institute. Trump lawyer John Eastman facing probe by California state bar | Reuters Newsletter | Sent every weekday. Trump lawyer linked to 'coup memo' tells judge claims of criminal Eastman still persisted with his election fraud claims long after that date, through at least Jan. 6, 2021. That lawyer, John Eastman, is a member in good standing of the conservative legal establishment. A federal judge in California previously found that Trump and Eastman more likely than not violated two felony statutes in their attempts to overturn the election: obstruction of an official proceeding and conspiracy to defraud the United States. He is the host of Law&Crime podcast "Objections: with Adam Klasfeld.". [94] CNN reported Eastman met with the committee but invoked the Fifth Amendment 146 times. But of all of them, the lawyers were most closely associated with Mr. McCartney, whom Mr. Eastman represented for more than 50 years. [50], All prominent legal scholars disagreed with Eastman's position, and many compared it to the birtherism theory against President Barack Obama. [20][21] In December 2022, the United States House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack recommended Eastman be charged with obstruction of an official proceeding and conspiracy to defraud the United States, along with Trump and potentially others. Politics Jun 16, 2022 12:57 PM EST. stands onstage as Rudy Giuliani speaks in Washington on January 6, 2021. Newsweek defended the column, while acknowledging that they were "horrified that this op-ed gave rise to a wave of vile Birtherism directed at Senator Harris". "[118][119] In March 2022, the State Bar of California announced that since September 2021, it had been investigating claims of possible violations of law and ethics rules by Eastman. Meanwhile, John Eastman, the law professor who developed the plan to challenge Joe Biden's electors on January 6, 2021, is fighting back against the Left's move to disbar him. John Eastman, an entertainment lawyer and brother of Paul McCartney's first wife, Linda, nabbed a Carnegie Hill co-op for $26.5 million, property records show. He was 83. Trump lawyer outlined plan to overturn election in newly disclosed memo On June 27, Eastman asked a federal judge to compel the government to return his phone and destroy its records of the phone's contents. [36] Eastman finished second in the three-way Republican primary with 34.2% of the vote, behind Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley, who received 47.3%. John Eastman Trying to Shield Jan. 6 Committee From 11,000 Documents More than 60 courts rejected election fraud claims by Trump and his allies. The lawyer also repped Trump, 76, in a Supreme Court case seeking to overturn the election results in four states where Trump alleged there d been voter fraud. John Lindner Eastman was born on July 10, 1939, in Manhattan, and grew up in Scarsdale, N.Y., the eldest of four children of Lee and Louise Lindner Eastman. ET: This story has been updated to include more information about the disciplinary charges from the notice filed by the bar. Or to keep it anonymous, click here. [52], Erwin Chemerinsky, the dean of Berkeley Law School, told the BBC, "Under section 1 of the 14th Amendment, anyone born in the United States is a United States citizen. Former lawyer of former President Donald Trump, John Eastman, appears on screen during the fourth hearing by the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the US Capitol. California bar unveils disciplinary charges against Trump lawyer John The plan called for legislators to express concern about absentee ballots to justify disqualifying tens of thousands of them, then using historical voting data to "discount each candidates' totals by a prorated amount" to arrive at a significant Trump lead. Since then, he has tangled with the committee over its demands for thousands of records, arguing to Judge Carter many of these documents are protected by attorney-client privilege. John Charles Eastman (born 1960) is an American lawyer who is the founding director of the Center for Constitutional Jurisprudence, a public interest law firm affiliated with the conservative think tank Claremont Institute. Rather, the op-ed focused on the "long-standing, somewhat arcane legal debate about the precise meaning of the phrase 'subject to the jurisdiction thereof' in the Citizenship Clause of the 14th Amendment", also known as the jus sanguinis or jus soli debate. [79][80][81][82], During the Capitol storming, when Pence was forced into hiding, Eastman exchanged e-mails with Greg Jacob, Pence's chief counsel. On or about December 1, 2020, Attorney General Barr, who headed the United States Department of Justice, which had monitored state elections for fraud and illegality, publicly stated that to date, we have not seen fraud on a scale that could have effected a different outcome in the election.'. Its not clear when Eastman formally became Trumps attorney, but he revealed in a legal filing last month that he sometimes communicated directly with Trump, and the former president sent the attorney at least two hand-written notes.. [2][3] He is a former professor and dean at the Chapman University School of Law. John Eastman: From California lawyer to Trump true believer - Los In 2017, Mr. Eastman steered a lawsuit by Mr. McCartney against Sony/ATV, the music publisher (now known as Sony Music Publishing), to regain his share of the United States copyrights in Beatles songs that he wrote with Mr. Lennon, citing an amendment to federal law that allows creators to recapture those rights after set periods. The Supreme Court has held this since the 1890s. As Trumps legal avenues to overturn his reelection loss grew thinner, Eastman offered up an unconventional strategy based on fringe legal theories: Eastman argued Vice President Mike Pencein his role as Senate presidentcould refuse to count some of Bidens electoral votes during the joint session of Congress on January 6, 2021. [112][113] Federal judge Robert Brack rejected Eastman's request on July 15. Axios also criticized Eastman for dismissing the eligibility concerns of 2016 presidential candidate Ted Cruz, born in Calgary, Canada, in a 2016 National Review op-ed, claiming they were "silly". Who Is John Eastman? The Attorney At The Center Of Trump's - Forbes Another lawyer, John Eastman, responded that he was in agreement, saying that if Thomas were to act, "that may be enough to kick the Georgia Legislature into gear because I've been getting a . Lee Eastman died in 1991, and Linda McCartney died in 1998. [39][40] He is chairman of the board of the National Organization for Marriage, which opposes same-sex marriage. [13][14] Pence did not accept Eastman's argument. [87][88][89] The FBI had announced two weeks earlier there was no evidence of antifa involvement in the siege. The John Eastman Coup Memo Is Not a Joke | The New Republic California Bar Slaps John Eastman with Disciplinary Charges John Eastman, the mediocre lawyer who apparently participated in a treasonous effort to veto the 2020 U.S. Presidential popular vote and electoral count, resides in Santa Fe, which annoys many . - No, John Eastman, you can't edit your own article here", "Born in the USA-Rethinking Birthright Citizenship in the Wake of 9/11. In addition to his son Lee, he is survived by his wife, Josephine; another son, Jay; a daughter, Louise; two sisters, Louise Weed and Laura Malcolm; and 11 grandchildren. John Eastman and his wife Elizabeth C'de Baca Eastman. Former Trump attorney Jenna Ellis faces imminent formal complaint in [124][125] Four days later, Chapman announced that Eastman had agreed to retire from the university, and the university's president, Daniele C. Struppa, said that Eastman and the university had "agreed not to engage in legal actions of any kind, including any claim of defamation that may currently exist, as both parties move forward". The conflict between Mr. Klein and the Eastmans, and the disagreement within the group over those men, would consume the Beatles for years to come, even after their official breakup in 1970. Andy Cross/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post/Getty Images. In the months following the election, however, the Trump campaign received information from numerous credible sources, including Attorney General of the United States William Barr and members of Trumps inner circle of advisors, that there was no evidence of widespread election fraud or illegality that could have affected the outcome of the election, the notice states. A state bar courthas to rule on the charges Eastman faces and then recommend a discipline if they rule against him. (Chesebro apparently referred to Trump's tweet five days earlier inviting supporters to a "wild" January 6 protest.) [25], Following law school, he clerked for Judge J. Michael Luttig at the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and for Justice Clarence Thomas at the Supreme Court of the United States; he then was an attorney with the law firm of Kirkland & Ellis, specializing in civil and constitutional litigation. Not only did he help me massively in my business dealings as my lawyer but as a friend he was hard to beat.. Who is John Eastman and why is he being referred for charges? Paul McCartney took to social media to pay respects to his brother-in-law John Eastman, who passed away from pancreatic cancer on Tuesday at age 83. As a result of information received from credible sources and numerous court rulings, by no later than on or about December 9, 2020, respondent knew, or was grossly negligent in not knowing, that there was no evidence upon which a reasonable attorney would rely of election fraud or illegality that could have affected the outcome of the election, and that there was no evidence upon which a reasonable attorney would rely that the election had been stolen by the Democratic Party or other parties acting in a coordinated conspiracy to fraudulently steal the election from Trump, the notice continues. Eastman also grabbed Trumps attention ahead of the 2020 election, when he suggested in a Newsweek op-ed that Bidens then-running mate Kamala Harris might not be eligible for the vice presidency because its unclear what immigration status her parents held when she was born in California. Several news outlets reported Wednesday the committee got emails between Eastman and Ginni Thomas, a right-wing activist married to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas who pushed to overturn Bidens winbut the emails contents arent known. [117], On October 4, 2021, a bipartisan group of attorneys, including two former federal judges and two former justices of the California Supreme Court, filed a complaint with the State Bar of California asking for an investigation of Eastman relating to "his representation of former President Donald J. Trump in efforts to discredit and overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. [35] On April 1, a Superior Court judge denied Eastman's choice for ballot designation as "Assistant Attorney General", fearing that use of this title, temporarily granted by South Dakota for his work on a lawsuit, would be misperceived as a California title. Former Chapman University professor John Eastman is among the individuals whom the Jan. 6 committee has recommended face federal criminal charges for their roles in the attack on the Capitol on . The State Bar of Californias Chief Trial Counsel George Cardona intends to seek Eastmans disbarment for alleged violations of Business and Professions Code section 6106, which punishes making false and misleading statements that constitute acts of moral turpitude, dishonesty, and corruption., There is nothing more sacrosanct to our American democracy than free and fair elections and the peaceful transfer of power, Cardona said in a statement. John Eastman, Brother-in-Law of Paul McCartney, Dies at 83 - TheWrap Eastman responded that he was speaking two miles away from the Capitol building. [30], He testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee in 2014 arguing that President Barack Obama's unilateral suspension of deportation for undocumented immigrants was unconstitutional. [68][69][70], On January 2, 2021, Eastman joined Trump, the president's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani and others in a conference call with 300 Republican legislators from Arizona, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin to brief them on allegations of voter fraud, with the objective of the legislators attempting to decertify their states' election results. Both were legal quagmires that flouted the U.S. Constitutionand Trump had a lawyer for each one. FBI seized the phone of former President Donald Trump's election attorney John Eastman last week, according to a new court filing from the conservative lawyer. [26], Eastman served as an attorney for the State of South Dakota, representing it in a denied petition to the U.S. Supreme Court in a constitutional challenge to federal spending. The Bar's investigation, announced Tuesday, March 1, focuses on whether Eastman "engaged in conduct in violation of California law and ethics rules governing attorneys following and in . [109], Days after it became known Eastman and Thomas had communicated by email, Eastman posted on his new Substack blog one email that he captioned, "OMG, Mrs. Thomas asked me to give an update about election litigation to her group. Then he became influential with Donald Trump and counseled him on how to retain power after losing the election. Kamala Harris was born in the United States. Former Trump lawyer John Eastman pleads the 5th (yes, again) Tuesday, March 1, 2022 Categories: News Releases The State Bar of California's Chief Trial Counsel George Cardona announced today that since September 2021, his office has been conducting an investigation of John Charles Eastman (State Bar No. [97], As Eastman sought to withhold some emails, in March 2022 the committee continued to seek them, stating in a federal court filing that the evidence it had acquired "provides, at minimum, a good-faith basis for concluding" Trump and his campaign violated multiple laws in a criminal conspiracy to defraud the United States by attempting to prevent Congress from certifying his defeat. [55] Lorelei Laird, in an Above The Law article, pointed out that Eastman was arguing that Harris was not even a U.S. [125][127], The University of Colorado cancelled Eastman's Spring 2021 courses due to low enrollment. The Eastmans became involved in the fight over the Beatles business empire in early 1969. John was a great man, Mr. McCartney wrote on Twitter last week, along with a photo of him with Mr. Eastman in yoga poses. Trump lawyer John Eastman, left, is seen in a video during a hearing of the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection on Thursday. Who is John Eastman, the Trump lawyer at the center of the Jan. 6 Eastman . Eastman has drawn scorn from some of his colleagues. Yates declined to answer . Trump lawyer Herschmann testified that on the morning of Jan. 6 he received a call from. The finding came in the context of civil litigation involving discovery by the Jan. 6th Committee. [45][46][47] He sits on the board of advisors of St. Monica Academy[48] and the advisory board of the St. Thomas More Law Society of Orange County. Who was lawyer John Eastman as Paul McCartney's brother-in-law dies at 83? The California bar directly connects Eastmans speech to the insurrection, saying he contributed to provoking a crowd to assault and breach the Capitol to intimidate then-Vice President [Mike] Pence and prevent the electoral count from proceeding., New York University law school professor and legal ethic expert Stephen Gillers termed the accusations against Eastman, "scathing," and that the Bar was charging him with failure to support the country's and California's constitutions, despite taking an oath to do so and, "The allegation that Eastman is guilty of 'moral turpitude'," is an attack on his personal and professional character. Eastman purchased the unit at. Bannon: I'm going to start with John Eastman. The right-wing attorney who authored " coup memos " for Donald Trump and supporters on how to scuttle the presidential election lost a court battle Friday to hold back his documents from the House select committee investigating last year's Jan. 6 insurrection. [27], Eastman has represented the North Carolina legislature and the State of Arizona in unsuccessfully petitioning the Supreme Court in cases involving same-sex marriage,[28] abortion,[29] and immigration. ", Video (4:48) John Eastman Defends Trying To Overturn 2020 Election, Dean of the Chapman University School of Law, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=John_Eastman&oldid=1139934632, Law clerks of the Supreme Court of the United States, National Organization for Marriage people, Controversies of the 2020 United States presidential election, Pages using cite court with unknown parameters, Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 17 February 2023, at 16:12. [116] One of the eight emails showed Eastman agreeing with Chesebro that bringing a legal argument to Supreme Court justice Clarence Thomas would be "our only chance to get a favorable judicial opinion by Jan. 6, which might hold up the Georgia count in Congress." A University of Chicago Law School graduate who clerked for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, Eastman has taught constitutional law for decades. [57] Eastman circulated a two-page outline and memo to the Trump legal team several days later, followed by a more extensive memo later. [37] Cooley advanced to the 2010 California Attorney General election, where he was defeated by Kamala Harris. [68] Eastman and the Thomases are longtime friends. During his time in law school, Eastman worked on the University of Chicago Law Review. He was a dean and professor at the Chapman University School of Law. After Thursday's hearing John Eastman should get a good criminal The Beatles' Sir Paul McCartney recently took to his Instagram to mourn the death of his brother-in-law, John Eastman, who was also his lawyer. Legal Ethics, Bar Discipline and John Eastman - Lawfare The Bar's committee chair said, "For California attorneys, adherence to the U.S. and California Constitutions is their highest legal duty,"[123] adding Eastman, "violated this duty in furtherance of an attempt to usurp the will of the American people and overturn election results for the highest office in the land an egregious and unprecedented attack on our democracy for which he must be held accountable. [57] He also asserted in October that a scenario in which Pence would reject ballots was "foolish" and "crazy," further claiming he had told Pence during their Oval Office meeting that his proposal was an "open question" and "the weaker argument". "John was a great man," McCartney wrote in an Instagram post announcing Eastman's death. [17] On January 13, 2021, Eastman retired from the Chapman University faculty after the controversy created by his having spoken at the Trump rally.

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