Trump attorney John Eastman called a former Wisconsin Supreme Court justice as his first witness while he defends his law license on state bar claims of ethical and legal violations.
The report that was panned by state Attorney General Josh Kaul (D) as a “train wreck” and by Gov.
Eastman maintains the 2020 election contained errors that cost Trump the election. The former Chapman University law dean was indicted in Georgia on racketeering charges in the plan to declare Donald Trump as winner of the presidential election.
The State Bar of California has charged Eastman with violating 11 ethical and statutory obligations in his role post-election that culminated in the Jan. 6 raid on the US Capitol. The conservatie legal scholar could lose his license to practice law there if the charges are sustained. Bar prosecutors rested their case Thursday.
Friday Testimony
Scheduled to testify Friday for Eastman are Joseph Fried as a percipient and not expert witness as the defense sought. Fried conducted an “audit” about 2020 election “anomalies” but has no experience or training as such, the Office of Chief Trial Counsel said in its motion to limit his testimony.
Conservative attorney Kurt Olsen, one of the main drafters of Texas v. Pennsylvania, statistician Ray Blehar, and John Droz, a physicist and environmental scientist on a statistical analysis of the 2020 election, also are scheduled to testify Friday.
John Yoo, a University of California Berkeley Law professor and long-time friend, is scheduled to testify Sept. 12 on the first count alleging Eastman failed to support the US Constitution and laws, the defense witness filing said.
He will testify on the charges alleging moral turpitude for misrepresenting seven states that had voted for President Joe Biden transmitted dual slates of electors to the president of the Senate, and a separate memo stating without evidence “upon which a reasonable attorney would rely” of fraud through electronic manipulation of voting tabulation machines.
Yoo can testify on the count alleging Eastman “repeatedly proposed and sought to encourage that Pence exercise unilateral authority to disregard the electoral votes of certain states or delay the counting of electoral votes.”
Eastman is scheduled to return to the stand on Sept. 13.
Time Out
Gableman got off to a rough start with State Bar Court Judge Yvette Roland who struck part of his testimony.
Carling, the bar prosecutor, objected to Gableman’s testimony that it was a “widely held view” that Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R) didn’t want “a real investigation” into the election and granted limited funds for the effort. The court sustained the objection. Vos terminated Gableman from overseeing the audit in August 2022.
Gableman said, “I have foundation” and asked the judge why she didn’t give Eastman’s counsel a chance to argue.
“No, we’re not going to do this,” Roland said. “You’ve been called as a percipient witness of a very specific issue. You’re going to have an opportunity to testify about that as time goes on. But when I make a ruling, whether you agree with it or not, it is the ruling that’s going to apply in this disciplinary proceeding.”
Gableman asked, “Do the Rules of Civil Procedure, do the Rules of Evidence apply in this court?” Roland ordered a five-minute break for defense counsel to “have a conversation with Judge Gableman, maybe straighten out a few misunderstandings or, we’ll leave it at that.”
The Office of Chief Trial Counsel represents the bar. Miller Law Associates represents Eastman.
The case is In Re Eastman, Cal. State Bar, No. SBC-23-O-30029, hearing 9/7/23.
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