It has been more than three years since the Jan. 6 attack and former President Donald Trump’s departure from the White House, a great many rioters have been held accountable for their assault on the Capitol via MSNBC. Far fewer officials in positions of influence, however, have faced consequences for their roles in orchestrating the anti-election plot.
The recent proceedings against John Eastman have been of great interest, and as NPR reported, the Republican lawyer is now being held accountable in important ways.
“Eastman’s wrongdoing constitutes exceptionally serious ethical violations warranting severe professional discipline,” wrote California State Bar Court Judge Yvette Roland in her decision. “Eastman made multiple patently false and misleading statements in court filings, in public remarks heard by countless Americans and to others regarding the conduct of the 2020 presidential election and Vice President Pence’s authority to refuse to count or delay counting properly certified slates of electoral votes on January 6, 2021.”
Even after Trump’s defeat, Eastman, at least on paper, shouldn’t have been especially relevant. He didn’t work in the White House counsel’s office. He wasn’t the attorney general. He had no office in the Justice Department. Eastman was, as MSNBC’s Chris Hayes recently described him on the air, a well-credentialed crank.
However, the radical lawyer had one important thing going for him: In late 2020, the sitting president of the United States was eager to buy what Eastman was selling, and everyone around Trump quickly realized that the attorney’s views represented their boss’ views.
