Eastman knew that his plan was illegal, the bar argued, as shown by his opposition in Dec. 2020 to filing a federal lawsuit testing his theory of Pence’s power to reject electors. “The risk of getting a court ruling that Pence has no authority to reject the Biden-certified ballots,” he wrote, was “very high.” It was better for Pence “just to act boldly and be challenged,” Eastman wrote.

Eastman promoted the “lawless theory” that Pence could reject electors, the bar argued, hoping to “extend the window for further mischief.” Eastman “has not accepted an iota of responsibility for his misconduct,” and showed a “complete and total lack of remorse,” instead portraying himself as a victim of political persecution.

Eastman’s misconduct “strikes at the very heart of what it means to be a lawyer — he misused his license in a grave and injurious manner designed to undermine our democracy,” the bar argued.

During the bar trial, which took place in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom, bar attorneys called election officials from contested states such as Arizona, Pennsylvania and Nevada to detail steps they took to ensure a fair election. Eastman’s legal team tried to show that illegalities marred the contest, but at times, his own witnesses appeared to undermine his case.

Testifying in Eastman’s defense was Michael Gableman, a former Wisconsin Supreme Court justice who has stated the election was stolen. But at the trial, Gableman admitted that his own 14-month probe into the election failed to prove that fraud cost Trump the election.

Another Eastman witness, John Yoo, his longtime friend and a Berkeley Law professor, testified that Joe Biden had won the White House “fair and square” and that Pence had “unassailable grounds” in refusing to reject electoral votes.

One of the bar’s star witnesses was Pence’s former attorney, Gregory Jacob, who said that Eastman approached him to argue that Pence could unilaterally toss out electoral votes in contested states where fraud was alleged. Pence rejected the idea, and Jacob accused Eastman of serving as “a serpent in the ear of the president of the United States.”

Eastman, the former dean of Chapman University’s law school in Orange County, still has a license to practice law in Washington, D.C. He has been indicted, along with Trump and 17 others, in Fulton County, Georgia, for election-related schemes. Eastman has vowed to fight the charges. Four of his co-defendants — including attorneys Jenna Ellis, Kenneth Chesebro and Sidney Powell — have pleaded guilty.

Eastman, a resident of New Mexico, is also an unindicted co-conspirator in the federal election interference case brought by special counsel Jack Smith. Eastman repeatedly invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination when he appeared before the House Jan. 6 committee, which recommended that the Department of Justice consider prosecuting him. U.S. District Judge David O. Carter ruled that Eastman “more likely than not” broke the law in connection with the 2020 election.

All along, Eastman’s defense has been that he was performing his duty as a vigorous legal advocate for Trump, advancing his legal theories in good faith, with a subjective belief in their merit. His defense attorneys argued that his public statements were protected by the First Amendment.

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