John Eastman declines to elaborate on Trump world discussions about Grassley presiding on Jan. 6
He asserted attorney-client privilege when asked to discuss evidence that Trump’s allies considered the Iowa senator playing a role to keep Trump in power.
John Eastman, testifying at his own disbarment trial, sidestepped a question Wednesday about whether he and others in former President Donald Trump’s orbit discussed the possibility that Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) — rather than Mike Pence — would preside over the Jan. 6, 2021, session of Congress.
During several hours of sworn testimony in a California disbarment proceeding, Eastman said discussions on that topic were protected by attorney-client privilege. When pressed about which client of his he was referring to, Eastman replied: “President Trump.”
It was a notable exchange in an extraordinary day of testimony from Eastman, who is seeking to defend his license to practice law in California even as he faces criminal charges in Georgia, where he is one of Trump’s 18 codefendants in an alleged conspiracy to subvert the 2020 election. Despite his criminal risk, Eastman fielded dozens of questions for hours on Wednesday, declining to assert his Fifth Amendment rights and only occasionally asserting attorney-client privilege.
Grassley’s role generated significant intrigue in the weeks leading up to Jan. 6. The Constitution requires the vice president — who also serves as the president of the Senate — to preside over the counting of electoral votes to certify the presidential election. Historically, however, this job has at times fallen to the “Senate president pro tempore,” typically the most senior senator in the majority. In 2021, Grassley held that position.
California state bar attorney Duncan Carling also pressed Eastman to respond to some of the allegations against him in the Georgia indictment. For example, they grilled him on his contacts with attorney Robert Cheeley, one of the other codefendants in the Georgia case, about efforts to put Eastman in touch with Georgia legislative leaders. (Eastman said those contacts were attorney-client privileged as well).
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John Eastman declines to elaborate on Trump-world discussions about Grassley presiding on Jan. 6 https://t.co/hsMmikkwP2
— POLITICO (@politico) September 7, 2023
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