Judge recommends Trump election lawyer John Eastman is disbarred

A California judge has recommended that one of the architects behind former President Donald Trump’s election takeover scheme, attorney John Eastman, be disbarred.

In a scathing 128-page opinion, Judge Yvette Roland argued that Mr Eastman’s law licence be revoked after months of testimony and arguments about his legal theories. She found that he violated ethics rules and possibly the law.

Mr Eastman is set to appeal the decision to a panel of judges, the following step being taking the matter to the State Supreme Court. During his appeal, he cannot practise law in California.

“Eastman failed to uphold his primary duty of honesty and breached his ethical obligations by presenting falsehoods to bolster his legal arguments,” she wrote of his efforts to claim that Mr Trump had the election stolen from him because of fraud.

“In sum, Eastman exhibited gross negligence by making false statements about the 2020 election without conducting any meaningful investigation or verification of the information he was relying upon,” she added.

“Given the serious and extensive nature of Eastman’s unethical actions, the most severe available professional sanction is warranted to protect the public and preserve the public confidence in the legal system,” Judge Roland wrote in her opinion.

John Eastman sits in Fulton Superior Court in Atlanta during a hearing in January 2023

She noted that Mr Eastman attempted to argue that he believed the lie that the election had been stolen via fraud, but she rejected that argument.

“Eastman cannot avoid culpability through his willful blindness—willful blindness that is tantamount to Eastman’s actual knowledge that the allegations regarding hidden ballots were false,” she said.

The judge slammed Mr