Conservative legal organization America First Policy Institute and 17 attorneys have filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in support of constitutional scholar Dr. John Eastman (pictured above), who is appealing his disbarment by the California State Bar following his representation of Trump after the 2020 election.
Eastman wrote legal memos arguing that then-Vice President Mike Pence had the constitutional authority to reject or delay certification of the 2020 election results. Following a comprehensive review of his actions, the California Supreme Court permanently disbarred Eastman for "deploying baseless legal arguments to interfere with the peaceful transfer of power."
"His crime, supposedly, according to all of these left-wing groups, was that he represented President Trump and he wrote a legal memo in which he outlined the various historical options that Vice President Pence, as president of the Senate, might have with regard to the certification process," former Trump attorney Cleta Mitchell recently told American Family Radio. "For that, he was subjected to a bar complaint in the state of California."
Mitchell, who joined the brief, described the proceedings as a "kangaroo court" and argued that Eastman's case is part of a broader, systemic campaign conservatives call "barfare" — the use of professional ethics complaints as political weapons.
She said left-wing groups have filed more than 150 bar complaints against attorneys solely because they represented Trump. Other prominent Trump attorneys, including Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell, Jenna Ellis and Jeffrey Clark, have faced disciplinary actions, suspensions or disbarment by state bar associations for their roles in election-related lawsuits, public statements about the 2020 election and efforts involving alternate electors.
Mitchell wants the Supreme Court to recognize that Eastman's case is about the broader implications for attorneys who represent conservative clients.
"If the Supreme Court doesn't step in, I really do fear for our whole system of jurisprudence," Mitchell told show host Jenna Ellis.
She warned that, without intervention, ethics complaints could create an intentional chilling effect, discouraging attorneys from defending political conservatives in the future.
Mitchell said left-wing groups have been very clear about their intentions.
According to a report by Axios, the long-term goal of The 65 Project, a dark-money legal activism campaign tied to Democratic Party insiders, is to "deter right-wing legal talent from signing on to any future GOP efforts to overturn elections."
"They say their intent... is to keep anyone from representing Donald Trump again," Mitchell summarized.
