JOHN EASTMAN DID J6
never forget the name of the man who was morally, legally, and personally responsible for Trump's insurrection
Former California attorney John Eastman rallies the MAGA troops at the Capitol with Rudy Giuliani on January 6, 2021
“2. When [VP Mike Pence] gets to Arizona, he announces that he has multiple slates of electors, and so is going to defer decision on that until finishing the other States. This would be the first break with the procedure set out in the Act.”
—Memo from John Eastman entitled “January 6 scenario” (undated)
“[REJECTING THE CERTIFICATIONS] IS BIGGER THAN PRESIDENT TRUMP. IT IS THE VERY ESSENCE OF OUR FORM OF REPUBLICAN GOVERNMENT AND IT HAS TO BE DONE! Anyone who is not willing to do it DOES NOT BELONG IN THE OFFICE and it is that simple.”
—John Eastman, speaking at the Save America rally at the Capitol on January 6, 2021
“[T]his case is a warning about the dangers of “legal theories” gone wrong, the powerful abusing public platforms, and desperation to win at all costs. If Dr. Eastman and President Trump’s plan had worked, it would have permanently ended the peaceful transition of power, undermining American democracy and the Constitution. If the country does not commit to investigating and pursuing accountability for those responsible, the Court fears January 6 will repeat itself.”
—Federal judge David O. Carter, 3/22/2022
“As January 6th approached, John Eastman and others devised a plan whereby Vice President Pence would, as the presiding officer, declare that certain electoral votes from certain States could not be counted at the joint session. John Eastman knew before proposing this plan that it was not legal.”
—Congressional January 6th Committee report, p. 30 (2022)
JOHN EASTMAN DID J6.
If you’ve never heard chief insurrectionist John Eastman’s name before, it’s time to commit it to memory. And if you have, it’s time to be sure that at least five other people around you know and remember it too.
We must never forget that (1) January 6, 2021 was a carefully-plotted effort at a full-on coup d’etat, and (2) that plot was hatched and directed by lawyers. John Eastman was not only directing those lawyers, but he personally went out of his way to be sure that Donald Trump would become so obsessed with Eastman’s plan to have Mike Pence to reject state electoral certifications that he would insist that it be carried out. John Eastman is morally, legally, and personally responsible for everything that happened on that day in a way that Donald Trump will never be.
We went deep on the complicity of lawyers in the events of J6 in of my all-time favorite episodes of Opening Arguments. I would encourage anyone who wants to be sure that they understand exactly what I mean by “John Eastman did J6” to go back and listen for our review of the memos, emails, court filings, the 65 Project’s exceptionally well-drafted bar complaint, and the J6 Commission’s findings on just how much consensus there is on Eastman’s culpability.
Let’s take all of that as given and and let federal judge David Carter say it:
“If Dr. Eastman and President Trump’s plan had worked, it would have permanently ended the peaceful transition of power” seems like a sentence that every American should know, doesn’t it?
This order in a related federal civil matter was written 14 months after the event. Two years later, nearly everyone involved in and (to the extent that they were ever prosecuted at all) responsible for January 6 would be pardoned and/or have their sentences commuted. Judge Carter’s warning that “January 6 will repeat itself” has never been more prescient.
Eastman has not yet completely escaped accountability for masterminding the “fake electors” scheme: he been disbarred in California and still faces state criminal charges in both Georgia and Arizona. (He was unfortunately never charged with a federal crime, but Trump quietly pardoned him two months ago just to be safe.)
John Eastman and everyone else responsible for this failed insurrection are doing everything possible to be sure that you don’t remember at all. But if you do remember January 6, 2021 for anything, they would prefer that you call it a “riot at the Capitol,” a spontaneous uprising from an angry crowd which could never have possibly been predicted.
This is a lie, but it is worse than that. It is a mortally dangerous lie, and one which we can all do our part to keep from becoming history.
John Eastman did J6. Pass it on.