News

John Eastman disbarred in California over efforts to overturn 2020 election

Comments:

by Ella Lee - 04/15/26 6:08 PM ET

Comments:

Link copied

by Ella Lee - 04/15/26 6:08 PM ET

Comments:

Link copied

NOW PLAYING

John Eastman, a lawyer who spearheaded efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in President Trump’s favor, has been formally disbarred in California

The California Supreme Court on Wednesday declined to review his appeal of a lower court’s recommendation to strip him of his law license, instead ordering his disbarment.

“The court orders that John Charles Eastman…is disbarred from the practice of law in California and that Respondent’s name is stricken from the roll of attorneys,” reads a terse order on the docket of Eastman’s case.

The state’s highest court also ordered Eastman to pay a $5,000 sanction to the State Bar of California Client Security Fund.

Eastman’s lawyer, Randall Miller, told The Hill in a statement that they intend to seek Supreme Court review to “repudiate this threat to the rule of law and our nation’s adversarial system of justice.”

“The California Supreme Court has allowed to stand a State Bar Court recommendation that we contend departs from long-standing United States Supreme Court precedent protecting First Amendment rights, especially in the attorney discipline context,” Miller said. “We disagree with that outcome and believe it raises pivotal constitutional concerns regarding the limits of state regulation of attorney speech.”

Eastman led the legal strategy that sought to subvert 2020 election results in several key states, including by using slates of alternate electors to swing the contest’s outcome in Trump’s favor. The plan also relied on then-Vice President Pence to toss out the real electors for the “fake” ones; Eastman wrote memos igniting the pressure campaign against Pence.

In 2024, State Bar Judge Yvette Roland found Eastman culpable on 10 of the 11 counts filed by the California State Bar. She cited Eastman’s “lack of remorse and accountability” in her decision and said it suggests he may engage in further unethical conduct. Last year, a three-judge review panel of the California State Bar Court upheld the decision.

The state bar sought to strip Eastman’s license to practice law in the state over “false and misleading statements” about purported election fraud. The bar also initially accused him of “moral turpitude,” or certain unethical behavior, over his Jan. 6, 2021, speech at the Ellipse, which it connected to the subsequent riot, but Roland dismissed the count.

George Cardona, the State Bar of California’s chief trial counsel, said that the order affirms the fundamental principle that attorneys must “act with honesty and uphold the rule of law,” no matter the client.

“After extensive proceedings before the State Bar Court’s Hearing and Review Departments, both of which found Mr. Eastman culpable of serious ethical violations, the Court has imposed the discipline warranted by the clear and convincing evidence that he advanced false claims about the 2020 presidential election to mislead courts, public officials, and the American public,” he said in a statement. “The Court’s order underscores that Mr. Eastman’s misconduct was incompatible with the standards of integrity required of every California attorney.”

Eastman previously faced criminal charges aside Trump in Georgia, and alongside other Trump allies in Arizona. The Georgia case has been dismissed, and the Arizona case is on hold after a judge ruled the indictment was flawed.

The Trump ally also was pardoned by the president last year alongside a slate of other key figures “for certain offenses related to the 2020 presidential election.” Presidential pardons apply only to federal crimes, and Trump’s allies were never charged in federal court; the pardons were largely symbolic.

Updated at 7:13 p.m. EDT

Add as preferred source on Google