Trump Co-Defendant John Eastman ‘Confident’ About Fulton County Trial

John Eastman (L), former attorney and adviser for former President Donald Trump, speaks with reporters along with his attorney, L. David Wolfe, outside the Fulton County Jail on Aug. 22, 2023, in a still from video. NTD/Screenshot via The Epoch Times

John Eastman, a defendant named alongside former President Donald Trump and 17 others in a racketeering indictment in Fulton County, Georgia, has been outspoken about the case.

“This fight is 95 percent political and only 5 percent legal. If I wasn’t out commenting in the press I was not entering the ring where the real battle was. So I’ve been speaking a lot,” he explained on Fox News recently.

Mr. Eastman served as an attorney for President Trump, and helped organize the alternate slate of electors in Georgia in 2020. These actions constituted a “criminal racketeering enterprise,” alleged prosecutor Fani Willis, the district attorney for Fulton County. In addition to violating Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, the indictment lists 40 more charges total.

“We did nothing wrong, we were challenging an election with more than credible grounds on which to do so and we thought it was important to do that,” Mr. Eastman said. “So I keep speaking the truth wherever I go.”

“There’s nothing that was done wrong here,” he added.

“I think if we get a fair trial in Fulton County, whether that’s in state court or federal court, I’m confident that we’ll be fully vindicated,” Mr. Eastman said. “Not just me, but all defendants.”

At the same time, Mr. Eastman faces risk of disbarment in California, where bar authorities recently said proceedings will continue while he faces trial proceedings in Georgia as well. State bar attorney Duncan Carling, who is leading the case, wrote in a court filing that the Georgia trial may take years, given the scale of the 41-count, 19-defendant case, whereas the disbarment trial would resolve more quickly.

His case began this January, when the State Bar of California accused Mr. Eastman of violating ethics rules in providing legal advice and strategies to President Trump when he challenged the 2020 election results. He was charged with 11 counts including “failure to support the Constitution.” It alleges he was “grossly negligent in not knowing,” else falsely trying to convince Vice President Mike Pence he had the authority to reject electoral votes.

Indicted Attorneys

Mr. Eastman is one of several attorneys who were named in the Georgia indictment, which some of the other attorneys have called unconstitutional.

“Yesterday I was indicted for being a lawyer!” Rudy Giuliani, former New York City mayor and also a lawyer for President Trump when he pushed for election integrity investigations, said on his own podcast.

“Thank you for your prayers and support as we fight criminalizing the practice of law!” attorney Jenna Ellis posted on X, formerly Twitter, after she was indicted.

Attorneys Sidney Powell, Robert Cheeley, Ray Smith, and Kenneth Chesebro were also indicted.

Joseph diDenova, former U.S. attorney in Washington, D.C., told Newsmax the indictment was an assault on the “right to counsel.”

“Fani Willis has done the most objectionable thing you can do. She has attacked constitutional pillars in this indictment. And most assuredly, she has sought to destroy the importance of the attorney-client privilege—the right to counsel,” he said.

“I just think that what you’re seeing now is something that all of these people, ultimately, are going to live to regret,” Mr. diGenova said. “We’ve never seen anything like this in our country, and I pray to God we never see it again.”

Separate Cases

Two of the attorneys, Ms. Powell and Mr. Chesebro, have already filed to sever their cases from the rest and also separately filed demands for a speedy trial. President Trump has also severed his cases from theirs, his attorney stating that he would not be ready to go to trial in as soon as two months.

Mr. Chesebro is the only defendant with a trial date set, for Oct. 23, and Ms. Willis requested the court combine Ms. Powell’s trial with Mr. Chesebro’s at the very least, if it would not let her try all 19 defendants together.

Mr. Chesebro’s and Ms. Powell’s legal teams both filed motions opposing the idea.

“The actions of Mr. Chesebro and Ms. Powell are akin to oil and water; wholly separate and impossible to mix (into one conspiracy),” Mr. Chesebro’s attorney wrote, adding that the two had never communicated.

Ms. Powell’s attorney echoed the line of reasoning.

“Ms. Powell can receive a fair trial only if she is tried alone. The prejudice that would inure to her from a lengthy trial with any of those she was not involved and about the vast number of events she had no knowledge of or connection with would deny her Due Process,” her attorney Brian Rafferty wrote.