Former Trump Lawyer John Eastman Pleads Not Guilty in Arizona Election Interference Case - 2024-05-18

Former Trump Lawyer John Eastman Pleads Not Guilty in Arizona Election Interference Case

PHOENIX — John Eastman , an alleged architect of an attempt to deliver Arizona 's 11 presidential electoral votes to Donald Trump after his 2020 loss, pleaded not guilty Friday to conspiracy, fraud and other criminal charges brought by Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes (D).

Wearing a navy suit and tie, Eastman appeared alongside his attorneys in a tiny courtroom in the basement of a court complex in downtown Phoenix and became the first of 18 defendants to appear for an arraignment. All were indicted last month by a state grand jury on charges stemming from an alleged Republican-run attempt to put forward a slate of electors purporting that Trump had won the state, despite his 10,457-vote loss to Joe Biden.

"I, of course, plead not guilty," Eastman said following the brief hearing. "I'm confident that, with the laws faithfully applied, I will be exonerated at the end of this process."

Eastman was released from custody without conditions.

Eastman is the first defendant charged in the Arizona case to appear in court and the others are scheduled to follow suit in the coming weeks. Among them are Trump 's former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows , former attorney Rudy Giuliani , close aide Boris Epshteyn and Christina Bobb, the top lawyer on "election integrity" for the Republican National Committee.

Eastman 's indictment stems from being among those pushing fringe legal theories for overturning the 2020 election results and intimately involved in the fake electors scheme. The House select committee investigating the deadly January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol explained how Eastman put forward a legal theory that then-Vice President Mike Pence could unilaterally block certification of the election – a theory that was roundly rejected by Trump 's White House attorneys and Pence's team, but was nevertheless embraced by the former president.

Although Eastman wants to keep practicing law so he can represent clients and pay his own legal bills as he fights criminal charges stemming from the 2020 election efforts, an attorney discipline judge in California rejected a request from Eastman to reactivate his law license earlier this month following her recent recommendation that he be disbarred.

"It's a serious charge, obviously, it can affect both the law licenses for those involved, if they are lawyers, as well as the liberty of them if they are convicted," said Michael Moore, a CNN legal analyst and former US attorney.

The case stems from the attempt by Trump , a Republican, and his allies to pressure election officials in several states to overturn the presidential election won by Democrat Joe Biden. Trump is not one of those charged in the Arizona case but court papers list "a former US president," referring to him, as an unindicted co-conspirator.