Attorney John Eastman, whose residence in Santa Fe prompted protests following the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, is one of the 77 people President Donald Trump pardoned recently. That pardon protects them from any criminal legal consequences for their alleged roles in trying to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.
According to media reports and federal prosecutors, Eastman was one of two lawyers behind the effort to pressure then-Vice President Mike Pence to block the certification of the 2020 election and to orchestrate slates of fake electors in several states to subvert the results naming former President Joe Biden as the election winner.
Trump’s pardon attorney, Ed Martin, posted the undated list, including Eastman, on social media Sunday evening. The proclamation from Trump offers an unconditional pardon to those named for conduct related to the fake electors, “as well as for any conduct relating to their efforts to expose voting fraud and vulnerabilities in the 2020 Presidential Election.”
Jack Smith, special counsel for the Justice Department during Biden’s term, identified Eastman, along with fellow pardon recipients Rudy Giuliani and Sydney Powell, as unindicted co-conspirators in an indictment against Trump for the president’s efforts to stay in office after losing the election to Biden.
The pardons have no immediate effect, because, as is the case with Eastman, none of the pardon recipients has been federally indicted. But the pardons preclude future presidents from bringing federal criminal cases against Eastman and others on the list, according to Politico.
Leading up to the indictment against Trump in which Eastman was named, federal agents seized Eastman’s cellphone after confronting him in a Santa Fe restaurant parking lot, which Eastman later sued over.
Eastman did not respond to Source New Mexico’s inquiries via email and phone call Tuesday.
Despite Trump’s pardon, Eastman is facing criminal charges in Arizona and Georgia for his alleged part in recruiting and organizing fake electors. He has pleaded not guilty in both cases, according to local news reports.
After entering a not guilty plea at a court in Arizona last May, he told reporters that, “I had zero communications with the electors in Arizona (and) zero involvement in any of the election litigation in Arizona or legislative hearings,” the Associated Press reported. “And I am confident that with the laws faithfully applied, I will be fully exonerated at the end of this process.”
While the pardon does not affect local prosecutors’ cases, those cases are largely stalled, according to the Associated Press.
