In the wake of a California judge ruling this week to disbar Trump-allied attorney John Eastman, conservative advocates are mulling filing complaints of their own against Democrat-aligned attorneys who sought to kick former President Trump off the ballot.
Mike Davis, president of the Article III Project, suggested lawyers who sought to remove Mr. Trump’s name over Section 3 of the 14th Amendment — but lost unanimously at the Supreme Court — should face punishments like Mr. Eastman, who counseled Mr. Trump over the 2020 election.
“Democrat attorneys must now face disbarment after the 9-0 Supreme Court ended their ‘fringe legal effort’ to disqualify Trump,” Mr. Davis said.
Earlier this month, the high court shut down a Colorado Supreme Court ruling that barred Mr. Trump‘s name from the ballot, claiming the Constitution forbids anyone who participated in an insurrection from holding office. The Colorado case claimed Jan. 6 constituted an insurrection.
Mr. Davis told The Washington Times his organization is considering launching such complaints.
“After this partisan ruling by this new California Democrat judge, the Article III Project is considering bar complaints against attorneys who advocated for the fringe legal theory to take Trump off the ballot that the Supreme Court rejected 9-0,” he said.
On Wednesday, Judge Yvette Roland issued a 128-page ruling that suggested Mr. Eastman be disbarred for advising the former president that Vice President Mike Pence could refuse to certify the 2020 election results declaring President Biden the winner.
Mr. Eastman was charged by the state bar, of which he was a member since 1997, with failing to support the Constitution, seeking to mislead a court, and moral turpitude.
“In view of the circumstances surrounding Eastman’s misconduct and balancing the aggravation and mitigation, the court recommends that Eastman be disbarred,” the judge wrote.
His license is placed in inactive status later this week, per the judge’s order.
Mr. Eastman, though, plans to appeal.
“We will appeal the decision, of course, and hopefully the California Bar Review Court, the California Supreme Court, or the U.S. Supreme Court will step in to put a stop to this “lawfare” that has become a serious threat to the First Amendment, the right of controversial clients and causes to legal representation, and more broadly to our adversarial system of justice,” he wrote on Substack.
Mr. Eastman faced bar complaints after liberal advocates complained that he created a plan to pressure Mr. Pence to refuse to declare Mr. Biden the winner of the Electoral College vote.
Mr. Eastman, though, says his statements to the former president and commentary about illegalities of the 2020 election are protected speech.
Ty Clevenger, an attorney who polices lawyer misconduct, said the potential disbarment of Mr. Eastman is a very scary situation for conservative lawyers.
“I am a member of the California Bar and the message is loud and clear to non-leftists — you better toe the line and not do anything they don’t like. I really really hope the U.S. Supreme Court gets involved in this because it has gotten surreal,” he said.
“Most of us on the right are solo or small firms and we don’t have the resources to go to war with state bars and they are intimidating people and I am afraid it is going to work,” he said. “It’s a total double standard.”
Elliot Mincberg, senior fellow at People For the American Way, said Mr. Eastman was being punished for misrepresentations and his conduct — not for a novel legal theory. He said that is different than the lawyers who sought to remove Mr. Trump from the ballot and the comparison is offensive.
“There is nothing wrong with far-out theories,” he said. “Honest conduct is what the ethical authorities are trying to ensure happens.”