Trump Attorney John Eastman Recommended For Disbarment—Here Are All The Former President’s Lawyers Now Facing Consequences
John Eastman: Eastman had 11 charges filed against him by counsel for the California State Bar stemming from his efforts to challenge the election results with Trump, with a judge recommending Wednesday that he be disbarred and sanctioned $10,000 for his post-election efforts—which comes after Eastman was already among the Trump allies who have been criminally charged in Georgia for helping Trump try to overturn the election.
Jenna Ellis: The Colorado Supreme Court publicly censured Ellis for violating rules that attorneys must not “knowingly [engage] in any [noncriminal] conduct that involves dishonesty, fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation,” with the attorney admitting in court she had made “misrepresentations” while representing Trump after the election that were “reckless” and had a “selfish motive.” After Ellis was criminally charged in Georgia (and got a plea deal in the case), the Colorado State Bar said in January it was investigating her again.
Sidney Powell: A judge dismissed an attempt by the Texas State Bar to discipline Powell in February after the bar alleged Powell’s post-election efforts had violated rules for professional conduct, though she now faces a separate disciplinary investigation in Michigan after being sanctioned for her post-election lawsuit in that state. After advising Trump and bringing her own post-election lawsuits in four states, Powell also still faces defamation lawsuits from Dominion and Smartmatic, a reported federal investigation into her organization’s fundraising arm and was criminally charged in Georgia, though she later reached a plea deal.
Rudy Giuliani: Giuliani, who led Trump’s post-election efforts, has already had his law license suspended and proceedings are under way to determine if he should be fully disbarred; he’s also been sued for defamation by voting machine companies Dominion Voting Systems and Smartmatic and was criminally charged in Georgia. The attorney was also ordered to pay $148 million to Georgia election workers whom he defamed, which resulted in Giuliani declaring bankruptcy.
Jeffrey Clark: Former DOJ attorney Clark, who aided Trump’s post-election efforts from within the agency, faces charges from the D.C. Bar, which filed a complaint against him in July 2022 and kicked off legal proceedings that are now being heard in court this week. He was also criminally charged in Georgia.
Kenneth Chesebro: The attorney, who is described as the architect of the Trump campaign’s “fake electors” scheme—in which GOP officials in battleground states submitted false slates of electors to Congress claiming Trump won—was criminally charged in Georgia, though he took a plea deal right before his case went to trial.
Michael Cohen: Trump’s longtime attorney served a three-year sentence in prison and home confinement for tax evasion and campaign finance-related crimes, after he orchestrated a series of “hush money” payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal over allegations they had affairs with Trump.
Alina Habba: Habba, who’s representing Trump in many of his post-presidency legal battles, has been sanctioned multiple times in Trump’s failed lawsuit against Hillary Clinton; she was first ordered to pay with her co-counsel $50,000 in sanctions and $16,274 in attorneys’ fees to one defendant in the case, and she and Trump were then sanctioned in January for nearly $1 million payable to Clinton, her campaign and other Democratic operatives.
Cleta Mitchell: Mitchell, who participated in Trump’s phone call in which he urged Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to “find” enough votes to overturn the state’s election results, resigned from her law firm Foley & Lardner in January 2021, saying she left the firm due to a “massive pressure campaign” against her from the left to oust her over her associations with Trump.
Other Georgia Attorneys: Attorneys Ray Smith and Robert Cheeley were also indicted as part of the Georgia case against Trump and his allies, after Smith worked on behalf of the Trump campaign in Georgia and Cheeley pushed false claims of election fraud at a legislative hearing in the state.
Pending Complaints: Ethics complaints urging state bars and disciplinary boards to investigate attorneys have been filed and remain pending against multiple Trump lawyers who aided his efforts to overturn the 2020 election, including Mitchell and Boris Epshteyn, though court records show another complaint against Trump attorneys in New Mexico was dismissed.
Attorneys’ Fees: Trump and his campaign have been ordered to pay attorneys’ fees in a number of failed lawsuits—though it’s unclear if his attorneys have been forced to personally shoulder any part of those costs—including more than $20,000 to two Georgia counties over post-election litigation, $1.3 million to former White House advisor Omarosa Manigault and more than $54,000 to Daniels.
WHAT TO WATCH FOR
Eastman said Wednesday he will appeal the ruling against him, and the dispute is expected to go to the California Supreme Court, though the attorney won’t be able to practice law in the meantime. The investigations into Powell and Ellis are ongoing, and it remains unclear how the court will rule in Clark’s ongoing disbarment hearings. No trial date has yet been set for the defendants in Georgia who haven’t taken plea deals. (Giuliani, Eastman, Clark, Smith, Cheeley and other defendants have all pleaded not guilty to the charges against them.)
TANGENT
A number of lawyers who aided Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election, but did not directly represent him in court or advise him, have also faced punishments. Powell’s co-counsel in the Michigan case—in which Trump was not a plaintiff—were all sanctioned and jointly forced to pay more than $175,000 in attorneys’ fees, as well as ordered to undergo legal education and referred to their respective state bars for potential discipline. Attorney Lin Wood, who was involved with the Michigan litigation along with other post-election lawsuits, has been under investigation by the State Bar of Georgia for his efforts since even before the Michigan order was issued. He ultimately retired before the State Bar could formally discipline him.
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