March 28, 2024 - In a 128-page ruling, California State Bar Court Hearing Judge Yvette D. Roland found licensee John Charles Eastman (SBN 
193726) culpable of 10 of the disciplinary charges filed by the State Bar’s Office of Chief Trial Counsel (OCTC) and recommended that he be disbarred. Absent a challenge, the recommendation goes to the California Supreme Court for review.
As is the case for all State Bar Court disbarment recommendations, Eastman is ordered by the court to involuntary inactive status and cannot practice law in California while the Supreme Court considers the case. The order to inactive status is effective three calendar days after the order is served.
“Every California attorney has the duty to uphold the constitution and the rule of law,” said Chief Trial Counsel George Cardona. “Mr. Eastman repeatedly violated that duty. Worse, he did so in a way that threatened the fundamental principles of our democracy. The substantial evidence presented over 35 days of trial showed, and the court has now held, that Mr. Eastman abandoned his ethical and legal duties as an attorney to conspire with then-President Donald Trump to develop and implement a strategy to obstruct the counting of electoral votes on January 6, 2021, and illegally disrupt the peaceful transfer of power to President-elect Joseph Biden, knowing that there was no good faith theory or argument to lawfully reject the electoral votes of any state or delay the January 6 electoral count. Mr. Eastman’s efforts failed only because our democratic institutions and those committed to upholding them held strong. The harm caused by Mr. Eastman’s abandonment of his duties as a lawyer, and the threat his actions posed to our democracy, more than warrant his disbarment.”
Summarizing the court’s findings, the decision states, “Eastman’s wrongdoing constitutes exceptionally serious ethical violations warranting severe professional discipline,” and recommends his disbarment.
In March 2022, Chief Trial Counsel Cardona invoked a public protection waiver to announce an investigation of Eastman was underway. In January 2023, OCTC filed 11 disciplinary charges against Eastman, alleging that he engaged in misconduct to plan, promote, and assist then-President Trump in executing a strategy, unsupported by facts or law, to overturn the legitimate results of the 2020 presidential election.
The hearing, which began in State Bar Court in June 2023, included more than 35 trial days extending into November, and involved 23 witnesses and more than 700 exhibits. The lead OCTC attorneys representing the State Bar were Duncan Carling, Samuel Beckerman, and Christina Wang.
The State Bar Court of California is the only independent court in the U.S. dedicated solely to attorney discipline. Attorney discipline matters are investigated and prosecuted by OCTC, acting on behalf of the public. The State Bar Court oversees disciplinary proceedings and adjudicates charges filed by OCTC. The court rules on whether OCTC has proved charges of professional misconduct by clear and convincing evidence and may recommend that an attorney be suspended or disbarred.
If a disciplinary ruling involves disbarment or suspension, the State Bar Court’s recommendation is transmitted to the California Supreme Court, which determines whether to impose the recommended discipline. See rule 9.18, California Rules of Court. You can search more extensive State Bar Court records and documents related to this case, or any attorney discipline matters, using the court’s Case Search feature. Input either the case number or attorney’s name (last, first middle).
Source: State Bar of CA.
