California judge denies Eastman request to postpone disbarment litigation

Former attorney to former President Trump, John Eastman cannot postpone his California disbarment trial, a judge ruled Friday.

Eastman argued that his status as an unindicted co-conspirator in the federal election fraud case against Trump, and as a defendant in the sweeping Georgia election fraud racketeering case would complicate the disbarment hearing, as he could possibly incriminate himself.

The California bar is seeking to revoke Eastman’s law license for his alleged work spreading election fraud conspiracies and encouraging Georgia politicians to create a fraudulent alternate slate of Electoral College votes.

Judge Yvette Roland ruled that Eastman can’t get out of the disbarment, however, because he’s already started the proceedings. He sat for an eight-hour interview earlier in the trial and chose not to invoke his Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination when discussing matters which are now part of criminal cases.

“It is firmly established that a witness cannot choose to testify willingly about a topic during a single legal proceeding and then later claim the right to remain silent under self-incrimination privilege when asked about specific subjects,” Roland wrote.

She also noted that Eastman has invoked his Fifth Amendment rights numerous times before, including during his interview with the House Jan. 6 Committee last year over the same conduct in question.

Roland further argued Eastman was already aware of the possibility that the conduct would be criminally investigated because he had been interviewed by the Georgia grand jury which eventually indicted him.

“[Eastman] was completely aware that he had potential criminal exposure for his actions surrounding the 2020 election, which is also the subject of the [disbarment case],” she wrote. “Yet, Respondent gave considerable testimony without ever invoking the Fifth Amendment and did not seek abatement until six days into trial.”

Roland said that normally a disbarment case would be paused due to criminal charges, but “unique circumstance” in this case, including Eastman’s hours of testimony, make that impossible.