The Left has spent five years systematically destroying every lawyer who worked for Donald Trump.
John Eastman just became their most brazen target yet – a law professor who never held office, never ran a campaign, and never set foot in a courtroom on Trump's behalf.
California just made an example of him, and what they did to him should terrify every conservative attorney in America.
The Two-Tiered Justice System Democrats Built
Start with Kevin Clinesmith.
He was the FBI attorney who doctored a CIA email in 2017 to tell a federal court that Carter Page was "not a source" for the CIA – when the FBI had been told repeatedly that he was.
That falsified document kept the entire Russia investigation alive and justified surveilling an American citizen.
Clinesmith pleaded guilty to a federal crime.
The D.C. Bar suspended his license for one year – applied retroactively, meaning it was effectively over before it started – then restored him to full good standing.
They did not seek his disbarment.
Now look at John Eastman.
He wrote a legal memo after the 2020 election arguing that Vice President Mike Pence had constitutional authority to pause certification of disputed electoral votes – a man who never held a government position, never touched a courtroom document, and never came within a mile of anything the bar typically punishes lawyers for.
The California Supreme Court just stripped him of his law license permanently.
Clinesmith doctored evidence to spy on an American citizen – one-year suspension, license restored.
Eastman wrote a memo his client agreed with – career over.
What John Eastman Actually Did and Why Democrats Called It a Crime
Eastman argued that the Electoral College process allowed Pence to return disputed electoral slates to the states for review.
Serious constitutional scholars disagree with that theory.
But look at what the bar actually charged him with.
One charge alleged Eastman acted with "moral turpitude" for appearing on Steve Bannon's podcast to discuss absentee ballot fraud.
Another targeted his filing in Texas v. Pennsylvania, where Texas challenged electoral votes from four states over legislative changes to voting rules that were made by officials rather than state legislatures – a legitimate constitutional argument the Supreme Court declined to hear on standing, never ruling on the underlying claims.
A third charge alleged Eastman filed documents with "false and misleading" statements in Trump v. Kemp, which sought to decertify Georgia's results over irregularities in Fulton County.
That is what the bar called crimes – appearing on a podcast, filing a lawsuit, and writing a legal brief.
But David Boies spent 37 days in Florida courts fighting the 2000 election results on behalf of Al Gore – all the way to the United States Supreme Court – and nobody touched his law license.
Boies is still one of the most celebrated trial lawyers in America.
Eastman is permanently barred from practicing law in California.
His attorney, Randall Miller, announced plans to take the case to the U.S. Supreme Court, arguing the disbarment runs headlong into First Amendment protections for attorney speech that the high court has long recognized.
Eastman raised nearly $1 million from supporters within days of the ruling.
How Democrats Used Lawfare to Destroy Trump Lawyers One by One
Eastman is not the first.
And the targeting was never random.
A group called the 65 Project was founded specifically to destroy right-wing legal talent and deter conservative lawyers from taking on any future election challenges.
David Brock – the Democrat operative behind the project – told Axios the goal was to "shame" Republicans who challenged the 2020 results and make them "toxic in their communities and in their firms."
That is not a legal process.
That is a political assassination campaign run through bar associations.
Rudy Giuliani is disbarred in New York and Washington D.C.
Sidney Powell spent years fighting disbarment before finally winning – at enormous personal and financial cost.
Jeff Clark faces proceedings for advising the president on Justice Department policy.
Ed Martin faces proceedings for implementing the president's policies inside the government.
The list keeps growing, and the targets keep getting further removed from anything resembling misconduct.
Giuliani at least appeared in court.
Eastman wrote a memo.
The bar associations they control became the weapon – slow, expensive, career-ending proceedings that don't require a conviction, just a complaint and a sympathetic hearing officer.
Win or lose, the process destroys you.
Powell survived it.
Eastman didn't.
He is taking this to the U.S. Supreme Court, and the First Amendment argument is not a stretch.
The question is whether the justices will look at what California just did to a man whose only offense was representing a client Democrats hated – and put a stop to it.
Sources:
- Hans Mahncke, "John Eastman Disbarment Marks New Low In Lawfare Against Conservatives," The Federalist, April 17, 2026.
- Brianna Lyman, "California Bar Strips John Eastman Of Livelihood For Representing A Client With Views It Dislikes," The Federalist, April 16, 2026.
- Breccan F. Thies, "John Eastman Disbarred For Doing His Job While Felon Who Faked Russia Hoax Docs Got Wrist Slap," The Federalist, April 16, 2026.
- "Attorney John Eastman Disbarred by the California Supreme Court," State Bar of California, April 15, 2026.
- "California Supreme Court Orders Trump-Linked Attorney John Eastman Disbarred," Fox News, April 15, 2026.
- "Ex-FBI Lawyer Facing Just One-Year Bar Suspension After Guilty Plea for FISA Deception," Washington Examiner, June 2021.
- "DC Bar Restores Convicted FBI Russiagate Forger to 'Good Standing,'" RealClearInvestigations, December 2021.
