John Eastman to appeal state Supreme Court's disbarment decision

John C. Eastman said Wednesday that he will appeal a California Supreme Court decision disbarring him from the practice of law for colluding with President Donald Trump to attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

Justices denied Eastman's petitions for review challenging a recommendation by State Bar Judge Yvette D. Roland that the former Chapman University Dale E. Fowler School of Law dean be stripped of his ability to practice earlier Wednesday. The court also ordered him to pay $5,000 in monetary sanctions. Eastman on Discipline, S292011 (Cal. S. Ct., filed Sept. 19, 2025).

Eastman called the outcome "quite disappointing and even more outrageous" in a phone interview. "We will be filing a petition for U.S. Supreme Court review in very short order."

He said the disbarment violated his First Amendment rights, saying it violated his rights to "professional speech" and describing it as the "death penalty."

Roland recommended that Eastman be disbarred in 2023, ruling that the attorney collaborated with Trump to impede the Electoral College vote count on Jan. 6, 2021.

"There is also extensive direct evidence demonstrating that each party involved in this plan actively participated in overt acts through in person meetings, communications with Vice President [Mike] Pence and his counsel, and in public remarks to advance their shared objective - i.e. to have Vice President Pence reject or delay the counting of electoral votes on January 6," Roland wrote.

Pence refused to do so, and Joe Biden won the presidency after Trump supporters delayed the vote by storming the Capitol.

The questions surrounding the 2020 election and the events before and on Jan. 6, 2021 remain a live issue, as Trump was elected president again in 2024 and has continued to press an argument that he won the 2020 election.

State Bar officials hailed the state Supreme Court decision in a statement.

"Today's California Supreme Court order disbarring John Charles Eastman from the practice of law in California affirms the fundamental principle that attorneys must act with honesty and uphold the rule of law, regardless of the client they represent or the context in which that representation occurs," wrote State Bar Chief Trial Counsel George Cardona.

Randall A. Miller, a partner with Miller Waxler LLP who represents Eastman, blasted the decision in a statement and vowed to appeal it.

"The California Supreme Court has allowed to stand a State Bar Court recommendation that we contend departs from long-standing United States Supreme Court precedent protecting First Amendment rights, especially in the attorney discipline context," he wrote. "We disagree with that outcome and believe it raises pivotal constitutional concerns regarding the limits of state regulation of attorney speech."