Conservative lawyer John Eastman, who promoted a plan to keep Donald Trump in power, turned himself in to Georgia authorities on Tuesday, in a case of alleged conspiracy to overturn the former US president’s 2020 electoral defeat.
Eastman turned himself in at the Fulton County Jail and was booked and released shortly thereafter.
The attorney was indicted last week along with Trump and 17 others accused by District Attorney Fani Willis of conspiring to subvert the will of Georgia voters in a desperate bid to keep Joe Biden out of the White House. . It was the fourth criminal case brought against the former Republican president.
Trump, whose bail was set at $200,000 (184,400 euros) on Monday, said he would turn himself in to Fulton County authorities on Thursday.
The conditions of his bail prohibit him from intimidating co-defendants, witnesses or victims in the case, including on social media. He has a history of attacking prosecutors leading cases against him, including Willis.
Eastman said in a statement provided by his lawyers that he would turn himself in today after “an indictment that should never have been filed.”
He further criticized the prosecution for targeting “lawyers and their zealous defense on behalf of their clients”, saying each of the 19 defendants had the right to rely on the advice of lawyers and prior legal precedent to challenge the results. of the elections.
A former dean of the Chapman University School of Law in Southern California, Eastman was a close adviser to Trump on the occasion of the January 6, 2021 attack on the United States Capitol by Trump supporters, who were trying to prevent the victory certificate. Biden’s election.
Eastman wrote a memo outlining steps Vice President Mike Pence could take to halt the electoral vote count while he presides over the Jan. 6 joint session of Congress to keep Trump in office.
After the 2020 election, Eastman was among those who pushed to implement an “alternative” voter list, falsely certifying that Trump won, and tried to pressure Pence to reject or delay recounting legitimate electoral votes for Democrat Joe Biden.
Sheriff Scott Hall, accused of participating in the voting equipment breach in rural Coffee County, Georgia, also turned himself in today at the Fulton County Jail.
Two other defendants, former Justice Department attorney Jeffrey Clark and former Georgia Republican Party Chairman David Shafer, filed documents seeking to transfer the case to federal court.
Prosecutor Willis has already filed the case in Fulton County Superior Court, where the indictment was filed, and has proposed a March 4 trial date. Legal maneuvering, such as attempts to take the case to federal court, can delay the start of a trial.
Source: TSF
