John Eastman

American law professor; legal and constitutional scholar

John Charles Eastman (born April 21, 1960[2]) is an American lawyer and founding director of the Center for Constitutional Jurisprudence, a law firm affiliated with Claremont Institute.[3][4] He used to be a professor and dean at Chapman University School of Law.[5] In 1990, he ran for California's 34th congressional district as a Republican but didn't succeed. He later ran unsuccessfully for California Attorney General in 2010.[3][6] He has worked as Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas' law clerk in the past.

John C. Eastman
Eastman in 2013
Born (1960-04-21) April 21, 1960 (age 63)
EducationUniversity of Dallas (BA)
University of Chicago (JD)
Claremont Graduate School (PhD)
Political partyRepublican
SpouseElizabeth Eastman

Eastman was one of the people who tried to overturn the 2020 United States presidential election.[7][8][9][10] On January 5, 2021, during an Oval Office meeting, Eastman incorrectly told Vice President Mike Pence that he had the constitutional ability to block the certification of Joe Biden's victory.[11][12] Pence did not end up doing this. Eastman sent a six-point plan to Republican senator Mike Lee, asking for Pence to not accept the electors from seven states to keep Trump as president, which Lee then rejected.[13]

Eastman gave a speech on January 6, 2021, during the White House Trump rally, before the 2021 United States Capitol attack, and then proceeded to ask Vice President Pence to violate the Electoral Count Act and stop the certification of the results of the election,[14] through Greg Jacob, Pence's legal counsel.[15] Federal judge David O. Carter on March 28, 2022, found Eastman and Trump more likely than not to have "dishonestly conspired to obstruct the joint session of Congress on Jan. 6, 2021".[16][17]

Education change

Eastman graduated from Lewisville High School and got an undergraduate degree from the University of Dallas. He received a Juris Doctor and a Doctor of Philosophy in Government from the University of Chicago Law School and the Claremont Graduate School, respectively. Meanwhile, Eastman worked on the law journal University of Chicago Law Review.[18]

References change

  1. Buncombe, Andrew (June 16, 2022). "Who is 'Coup Memo' author John Eastman and what role did he play in pushing Trump's plan to derail democracy?". Yahoo! News. Retrieved June 16, 2022.
  2. "Who is John Eastman And Family". biolifestory.com. Archived from the original on 28 March 2022. Retrieved 6 May 2022.
  3. 3.0 3.1 "Dr. John Eastman". Faculty Profile. Chapman University. Archived from the original on December 10, 2020. Retrieved 10 January 2021.
  4. "John C. Eastman". Conference on World Affairs. 2018-11-28. Archived from the original on 2022-07-15. Retrieved January 14, 2021.
  5. Sani, Jasmin (December 10, 2020). "'This is not who we are': Chapman law professor represents Trump in Supreme Court". The Panther Newspaper.
  6. "John Eastman for Attorney General". eastmanforag.com. Archived from the original on February 1, 2010. Retrieved June 22, 2022.
  7. Alemany, Jacqueline; Brown, Emma; Hamburger, Tom; Swaine, Jon (October 23, 2021). "Ahead of Jan. 6, Willard hotel in downtown D.C. was a Trump team 'command center' for effort to deny Biden the presidency". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved October 24, 2021.
  8. Dawsey, Josh; Alemany, Jacqueline; Swaine, Jon; Brown, Emma (October 29, 2021). "During Jan. 6 riot, Trump attorney told Pence team the vice president's inaction caused attack on Capitol". The Washington Post. Retrieved October 30, 2021.
  9. Kaczynski, Andrew; Steck, Em (October 30, 2021). "Trump lawyer John Eastman said 'courage and the spine' would help Pence send election to the House in comments before January 6". CNN. Retrieved October 30, 2021.
  10. Broadwater, Luke (October 30, 2021). "Trump Lawyer Blamed Pence for Violence as Rioters Stormed Capitol - John Eastman, the author of a memo that some in both parties liken to a blueprint for a coup, sent a hostile email to the vice president's chief counsel as the mob attacked". The New York Times. Retrieved October 31, 2021.
  11. Stracqualursi, Veronica (October 30, 2021). "Washington Post: Trump lawyer John Eastman blamed Pence for January 6 violence by refusing to block 2020 election certification". The Washington Post. Retrieved October 30, 2021 – via CNN.
  12. Blake, Aaron (October 30, 2021). "The most shocking new revelation about John Eastman - He and Trump were not just pressing forward despite the mob; they apparently were trying to leverage it". The Washington Post. Retrieved October 30, 2021.
  13. Gangel, Jamie; Herb, Jeremy (September 20, 2021). "Memo shows Trump lawyer's six-step plan for Pence to overturn the election". CNN. Retrieved September 20, 2021.
  14. "UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA SOUTHERN DIVISION JOHN C. EASTMAN Plaintiff, vs. BENNIE G. THOMPSON, et al., Defendants. Exhibit N" (PDF). March 2, 2022. Retrieved March 8, 2022.
  15. Cheney, Kyle (March 11, 2022). "How Pence used 43 words to shut down Trump allies' election subversion on Jan. 6". Politico. Retrieved June 9, 2022. When Pence refused to entertain the alternate electors during Congress' session certifying Biden as the next president, Trump supporters encroaching on the Capitol became furious. Within an hour, hundreds had breached the building, with some chanting 'hang Mike Pence.' ... Amid the chaos, Eastman exchanged tense emails with Jacob. Pence's counsel accused Eastman, in one remarkably blunt missive, of being 'a serpent in the ear of the president of the United States.'
  16. Broadwater, Luke; Feuer, Alan; Haberman, Maggie (March 28, 2022). "Federal Judge Finds Trump Most Likely Committed Crimes Over 2020 Election". The New York Times. Retrieved May 23, 2022.
  17. Polantz, Katelyn (March 22, 2022). "Judge: 'More likely than not' that Trump 'corruptly attempted' to block Congress from counting votes on January 6". CNN. Retrieved March 22, 2022.
  18. "The University of Chicago Law Review Volume 62 Masthead" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on April 4, 2022. Retrieved June 22, 2022.