California disbars John Eastman over 2020 case

April 16, 2026

Summary

California’s top court disbarred John Eastman over his efforts to challenge the 2020 election results.

Why this matters

The decision extends the legal consequences for lawyers tied to efforts to challenge the 2020 election. It also highlights how state bar authorities can discipline attorneys over conduct tied to national political events.

John Eastman, an attorney for President Donald Trump who helped develop a strategy to challenge the 2020 presidential election results, was disbarred in California on Wednesday over his actions after the election.

The California Supreme Court said in a filing that Eastman could no longer practice law in the state, upholding a State Bar Court recommendation. The court also ordered him to pay $5,000 in sanctions.

Eastman’s attorney, Randall A. Miller, said Eastman would seek review before the U.S. Supreme Court.

“The California Supreme Court has allowed to stand a State Bar Court recommendation that we contend departs from long-standing United States Supreme Court precedent protecting First Amendment rights, especially in the attorney discipline context,” Miller wrote. “We disagree with that outcome and believe it raises pivotal constitutional concerns regarding the limits of state regulation of attorney speech.”

Eastman promoted a plan for then-Vice President Mike Pence to block certification of Joe Biden’s 2020 electoral victory. Evidence presented by the House Jan. 6 committee in 2022 showed that Eastman acknowledged the plan was not legal, but urged Pence to reject electors from contested states.

The committee also said that, days after the Jan. 6 riot, Eastman asked former Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani to include him on a list of people Trump might pardon. Eastman was not pardoned then.

Last year, Trump issued pardons to people alleged to have been involved in the fake electors scheme, including Eastman, Giuliani, and former Trump attorney Sidney Powell. The pardons applied only to federal matters, and the article said Eastman and more than 70 others listed did not face federal charges.

Giuliani was disbarred in New York and Washington over his role in efforts to challenge the election.

The disbarment case against Eastman began in 2023, after the State Bar of California sought to revoke his license following an ethics investigation. He faced 11 disciplinary charges tied to allegations that he advanced a legal theory to help overturn the election. A judge in 2024 found him culpable on 10 charges and recommended disbarment.

Powell, who pleaded guilty in the Georgia election interference case, called Eastman’s disbarment “disgusting and so wrong” in a post on X.

Eastman also faced charges in Georgia alongside Trump and 17 others under the state’s racketeering law. He and Trump pleaded not guilty. The case ended last year when the state prosecutor dropped the charges against Trump, Eastman, and the other co-defendants.

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President Donald Trump said in a Truth Social post that “an Iranian-flagged cargo ship named TOUSKA, nearly 900 feet long and weighing almost as much as an aircraft carrier, tried to get past our Naval Blockade, and it did not go well for them.”

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