So far, Donald Trump and his co-defendants in the Fulton County voter fraud case have managed to divert attention from their own alleged misdeeds to those of District Attorney Fani Willis. (And yes, Willis herself helped make this possible. )
However, last week’s events in California involving John Eastman, a Trump lawyer, co-defendant and central figure in the alleged conspiracy, suggest that this suspension could be temporary.
After a lengthy trial, a California state attorney court concluded that Eastman “conspired with President Trump to obstruct the lawful performance of the government of the United States; specifically, by conspiring to disrupt the January 6, 2021 election count. . . by illegal acts, delinquent or fraudulent.
Because of his involvement in this criminal conspiracy, Judge Yvonne Roland suspended Eastman’s license and made the suspension permanent, a decision that will be made later through the California Supreme Court.
Eastman’s moves here in Georgia figured prominently in that decision.
In his ruling, Roland found that Eastman had filed false documents with the U. S. Supreme Court and the U. S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. In both cases, Eastman and Trump were trying to reject some or all of the five million votes. legally issued through citizens of Georgia.
In those documents, Eastman claimed that more than 66,000 underage voters voted in Georgia. It’s a lie. He claimed that as many as 2,560 inmates had voted illegally. It’s a lie. He claimed that more than 10,000 dead people had voted in Georgia. They didn’t.
The California court also found that Eastman conspired with Trump to force Vice President Pence to refuse to count electoral votes from Georgia and several other swing states, which would have tipped the election in Trump’s favor.
To protect his actions, Eastman told the State Bar of California that he had a First Amendment right to speak on such issues and that, as Trump’s lawyer, he had a duty to offer a “zealous defense” on behalf of his client. The same claims Eastman has made in defense of fees here in Fulton County.
However, California’s ruling did not conform to any of those arguments. The First Amendment, Justice Roland wrote, “does not protect speech used as a tool to commit a crime. . . ». And while lawyers have a duty to zealously defend and preserve the interests of their clients, they also have a duty to communicate it.
“The vigorous defense absolves Eastman of his day-to-day work in favor of being fair and upholding the rule of law,” he wrote.
Until his relationship with Trump, Eastguy enjoyed a national reputation as a conservative constitutional expert. With his likely departure, this is no longer the case. In fact, it’s been remarkable to see how other highly skilled people have squandered their careers, he says. , and maybe even his freedom in the call of a guy like Trump.
A lot of bad things can be said about Trump; Believe me, I said as many as I could, but this guy is not a hypocrite. It does not pretend to have high ethical standards that it then violates; He does not claim to be loyal to principles or reasons other than his own. There is a peculiar and straightforward honesty in their dishonesty. This is part of what some consider his charisma.
The Trump movement, on the other hand, is mired in hypocrisy. In Trump’s service, constitutionalists like Eastguy will distort and destroy the very document they claim to revere. Evangelicals will set aside the religion through which they are profiled to protect a guy who sits in a New York courtroom this week, analyzing why he quietly paid cash to a porn star. Self-proclaimed patriots waving flags and chanting “America First” will attack the seat of our American republic, using those flags as opposing spears. to police officers. And because the enormous capacity for self-deception is so enormous, few of them realize the extent to which they have sold what was supposed to be so expensive for them until it is already too late.
In a footnote to its 128-page decision, the California court references a revealing email exchange between Eastman and Rudy Giuliani. In the email sent on Jan. 11, five days after the insurrection’s failure, Eastman comes across as almost melancholy. Their war to overturn the election has been lost, and we are beginning to realize that they may have gone too far, perhaps there will be repercussions in the future.
First, Eastman tells Giuliani that two colleges where he teaches have begun asking uncomfortable questions about his actions. Second, to show how deceived he is, he asks Rudy to send all the evidence he has to prove that Antifa, not MAGA, is guilty of inciting violence at the Capitol.
“Thirdly, I deserve to be on the pardon list, if this still continues,” he wrote to Rudy. At that moment, he saw what his long-term future would hold, but it was too late.
This article was previously published through Georgia Recorder, a partner of the nonprofit network States Newsroom, which includes the Florida Phoenix.
by Jay Bookman, Florida Phoenix April 5, 2024
So far, Donald Trump and his co-defendants in the Fulton County voter fraud case have managed to divert attention from their own alleged misdeeds to those of District Attorney Fani Willis. (And yes, Willis herself helped make this possible. )
However, last week’s events in California involving John Eastman, a Trump lawyer, co-defendant and central figure in the alleged conspiracy, suggest that this suspension could be temporary.
After a lengthy trial, a California state attorney court concluded that Eastman “conspired with President Trump to obstruct the lawful performance of the government of the United States; specifically, by conspiring to disrupt the January 6, 2021 election count. . . by illegal acts, delinquent or fraudulent.
Because of his involvement in this criminal conspiracy, Judge Yvonne Roland suspended Eastman’s license and made the suspension permanent, a decision that will be made later through the California Supreme Court.
Eastman’s moves here in Georgia figured prominently in that decision.
In his ruling, Roland found that Eastman had filed false documents with the U. S. Supreme Court and the U. S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. In both cases, Eastman and Trump were trying to reject some or all of the five million votes. legally issued through citizens of Georgia.
In those documents, Eastman claimed that more than 66,000 underage voters voted in Georgia. It’s a lie. He claimed that as many as 2,560 inmates had voted illegally. It’s a lie. He claimed that more than 10,000 dead people had voted in Georgia. They didn’t.
The California court also found that Eastman conspired with Trump to force Vice President Pence to refuse to count electoral votes from Georgia and several other swing states, which would have tipped the election in Trump’s favor.
To protect his actions, Eastman told the State Bar of California that he had a First Amendment right to speak on such issues and that, as Trump’s lawyer, he had a duty to offer a “zealous defense” on behalf of his client. The same claims Eastman has made in defense of fees here in Fulton County.
However, California’s ruling did not conform to any of those arguments. The First Amendment, Justice Roland wrote, “does not protect speech used as a tool to commit a crime. . . ». And while lawyers have a duty to zealously defend and preserve the interests of their clients, they also have a duty to communicate it.
“The vigorous defense absolves Eastman of his day-to-day work in favor of being fair and upholding the rule of law,” he wrote.
Until his relationship with Trump, Eastguy enjoyed a national reputation as a conservative constitutional expert. With his likely departure, this is no longer the case. In fact, it’s been remarkable to see how other highly skilled people have squandered their careers, he says. , and maybe even his freedom in the call of a guy like Trump.
A lot of bad things can be said about Trump; Believe me, I said as many as I could, but this guy is not a hypocrite. It does not pretend to have high ethical standards that it then violates; He does not claim to be loyal to principles or reasons other than his own. There is a peculiar and straightforward honesty in their dishonesty. This is part of what some consider his charisma.
The Trump movement, on the other hand, is mired in hypocrisy. In Trump’s service, constitutionalists like Eastguy will distort and destroy the very document they claim to revere. Evangelicals will set aside the religion through which they are profiled to protect a guy who sits in a New York courtroom this week, analyzing why he quietly paid cash to a porn star. Self-proclaimed patriots waving flags and chanting “America First” will attack the seat of our American republic, using those flags as opposing spears. to police officers. And because the enormous capacity for self-deception is so enormous, few of them realize the extent to which they have sold what was supposed to be so expensive for them until it is already too late.
In a footnote to its 128-page decision, the California court references a revealing email exchange between Eastman and Rudy Giuliani. In the email sent on Jan. 11, five days after the insurrection’s failure, Eastman comes across as almost melancholy. Their war to overturn the election has been lost, and we are beginning to realize that they may have gone too far, perhaps there will be repercussions in the future.
First, Eastman tells Giuliani that two colleges where he teaches have begun asking uncomfortable questions about his actions. Second, to show how much he’s sunk in his deceptions, he asks Rudy to send all the evidence he has to prove he’s Antifa, not MAGA. who were guilty of inciting violence at the Capitol.
“Thirdly, I deserve to be on the pardon list, if this still continues,” he wrote to Rudy. At that moment, he saw what his long-term future would hold, but it was too late.
This article was previously published through Georgia Recorder, a partner of the nonprofit network States Newsroom, which includes the Florida Phoenix.
Florida Phoenix is a member of States Newsroom, a grant-funded, nonprofit news network and donor coalition as a 501c public charity(3). Florida Phoenix maintains its editorial independence. Please contact Editor Diane Rado if you have any questions: info@floridaphoenix. com. Follow Florida Phoenix on Facebook and Twitter.
Jay Bookman is a columnist for the Georgia Recorder, a media outlet of the States Newsroom. He covered Georgia and national politics for approximately 30 years for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, winning state, regional, and national journalism awards. He has won the National Headliner Award and the Walker Stone Award for his outstanding editorial writing. He is also the author of “Caught in the Current,” published through St. Petersburg. The Florida Phoenix is part of the state’s nonprofit newsroom.
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