John Eastman, the law professor who peddled the lie to President Donald Trump that Vice President Mike Pence could effectively overturn the results of a free and fair election, and then went on stage with Rudy Giuliani and helped “foment” an insurrection, may become Trump’s attorney to defend him in his Senate impeachment trial.
“Eastman, 60, who made unsubstantiated claims of election fraud at the rally, would neither confirm nor deny whether he will represent Trump, citing attorney-client privilege,” Reuters reports. “Asked whether he would be willing, Eastman said: ‘If the President of the United States asked me to consider helping him, I would certainly give it consideration.'”
Slate’s Mark Joseph Stern describes Eastman as “a white supremacist on the far-right fringe of the conservative legal movement,” who “played a major role in the president’s failed coup.”
The white supremacist charge comes only in part for his birther lie that now-Vice President-elect Kamala Harris is not constitutionally-qualified to become vice president or president.
Eastman just yesterday “retired” from his job as a law professor at Chapman University, “effective immediately,” the school said, announcing it had reached the agreement with him after “discussions,” and after a pledge that neither side would sue. Eastman’s colleagues were publicly outraged at his involvement with Trump and his false legal claim that ultimately led to the President pressuring his vice president, and insurrectionists calling to “hang Mike Pence.”
And while his teaching career at Chapman has now ended, Eastman’s job at the all-but defunct anti-LGBTQ National Organization For Marriage, where he has served as chairman for almost a decade, has not.
Nor has his association with the very powerful Federalist Society, where he is chairman of the right wing organization’s Federalism & Separation of Powers practice group.
Here’s Eastman on stage with Giuliani barely hours before insurrectionists attempted a coup at the U.S. Capitol. There is no reason to believe his claims stated here are legitimate.