
AN ABUSE OF POWER: THE TRIAL OF JOHN EASTMAN
Yesterday I talked about how the prosecution of John Eastman by the California State Bar lacks substance. Professor Eastman was doing nothing more than counseling the campaign of President Donald Trump on the remedies available under the Electoral Count Act in effect in 2020 for the constitutional violations of state law regarding the counting of votes in battleground states. The fact that Congress went through the effort of changing the Electoral Count Act in 2022 after Professor Eastman opined on the remedies the old act provided is proof, in and of itself, that there was some merit in the opinions of Professor Eastman about the remedies afforded under the old act. Any act of disciplining him for giving his client legal options is political theater, not enforcing the Rules of Professional Conduct or protecting the reputation of the bar.
During my time in the State Legislature, I was a critic of the State Bar, who I, as well as other legislators (such as Senator Bill Morrow), accused of being less concerned about protecting the public than it was in pursuing politics. Our efforts to reign in the political proclivities of the State Bar came to naught when Gray… Read More