John Eastman, the former Donald Trump election lawyer behind the so-called “fake electors” scheme, was officially disbarred by the state of California on Tuesday.
The California State Bar recommended last Wednesday that Eastman be disbarred for his actions surrounding the 2020 election and the pro-Trump efforts to overturn that election.
“Eastman’s wrongdoing was committed directly in the course and scope of his representation of President Trump and the Trump Campaign,” State Bar Court Judge Yvette D. Roland ruled. “Eastman’s actions transgressed those ethical limits by advocating, participating in and pursuing a strategy to challenge the results of the 2020 presidential election that lacked evidentiary or legal support.”
Added to the long list:
https://www.justsecurity.org/90509/trumps-lawyers-face-sanctions-discipline-and-indictment-how-should-the-legal-profession-respond/
"Disciplinary Proceedings
Wood surrendered his license in Georgia, reportedly in exchange for dismissal of disciplinary proceedings against him.
Disciplinary proceedings in Michigan were initiated against Rohl, Hagerstrom, Juntilla, Haller, Johnson, Powell, Newman, Kleinhendler, and Wood. Juntilla and Newman reportedly have been dismissed from the proceeding, presumably because sanctions imposed on them by the District Court in King v. Whitmer were reversed by the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. (The Michigan disciplinary action against attorneys not licensed in Michigan is grounded in the State’s “long-arm” ethics rule 8.5(a) and the federal district court’s local rule 83.20(j).)
Pending further proceedings, Giuliani has been suspended from practicing in the state of New York for his work on behalf of Trump. In the District of Columbia, the Board On Professional Responsibility has recommended his disbarment.
Clark is the respondent to disciplinary proceedings in the District of Columbia.
Eastman is the respondent in disciplinary proceedings in California for his participation in efforts to prevent the certification of the presidential election.
Ellis has been censured by the Colorado Bar for her false public statements (“misrepresentations”) on behalf of Trump about purported election fraud in 2020.
Disciplinary proceedings in Texas against Sidney Powell were dismissed, but the dismissal is reportedly on appeal.
Sanctions Proceedings
Nine attorneys were sanctioned by the U.S. District Court (Eastern District of Michigan) in the King v. Whitmer litigation; sanctions against six of the attorneys were completely affirmed recently by a panel of the federal Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. (The District Court imposed sanctions on Haller, Hagerstrom, Johnson, Juntilla, Kleinhendler, Newman, Powell, Rohl, and Wood. The Sixth Circuit panel reversed and vacated sanctions awards against Juntilla and Newman because their involvement in the case was de minimis or otherwise unexceptionable; the appellate panel reduced the District Court’s fee award against Wood but did not entirely eliminate it.)
In the ongoing lawsuit brought by the New York Attorney General against the Trump Organization and its officers and employees for property-valuation fraud, the presiding judge recently sanctioned five of Trump’s attorneys (Farina, Kise, Madaio, Morian, and Robert) for “frivolous motion practice.” Specifically, the five sanctioned attorneys renewed arguments for a third time that the judge had rejected twice and on which the judge had been affirmed twice on interlocutory review by the State’s intermediate appellate court.
Criminal Indictments
Cheeley, Chesebro, Clark, Giuliani, Eastman, Ellis, Powell, and Smith have been indicted in Georgia for their alleged attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results in Georgia, including allegedly illegal attempts to access voting equipment. Excepting Ellis, the charges for each of the lawyers in the Georgia indictment include at least one charge of “false statements or writings” or “conspiracy to commit false statements or writings.”
DePerno and Juntilla reportedly have been indicted in Michigan for “allegedly attempting to access and tamper with voting tabulators” in one Michigan county.
The allegations in the Special Counsel Jack Smith’s indictment of Trump in the District of Columbia for his participation in attempts to prevent certification of the 2020 election results indicate that at least five of the unnamed unindicted co-conspirators in that case are lawyers. They appear to be Chesebro, Clark, Eastman, Giuliani, and Powell, who are already included here because of other proceedings by or against them.
Guilty Pleas
Ellis has pleaded guilty in the Georgia election interference case to one felony charge of aiding and abetting false statements and writings.
Kenneth Chesebro has pleaded guilty in the Georgia election interference case to one felony count of conspiracy to commit filing false documents.
Powell has pleaded guilty to six misdemeanor counts of conspiracy to commit intentional interference with the performance of election duties in the Georgia election interference case."