Eastman Ethics Case Pauses on Unfounded Election Fraud Claim

California State Bar prosecutors Friday were dismantling claims of election fraud and anomalies cited by Trump attorney John Eastman who is fighting to keep his law license.

For a third day in Eastman’s ethics trial over his role post-election that culminated in the Jan. 6 raid on the US Capitol, Garland Favorito, who co-founded Voters Organized for Trusted Election Results in Georgia, or VoterGA, testified as a defense witness. Favorito has claimed votes were flipped in electronic voting machines used statewide in the 2020 presidential election and anomalies affected the election’s outcome. Eastman maintains the 2020 election contained errors that cost Donald Trump a win.

Deputy Trial Counsel Duncan Carling in a cross-examination that began late Thursday walked through the basis for some of the claims VoterGA makes to refute state arguments there was no election fraud.

“To date you, and by that I mean VoterGA has not been able to identify a single instance of a counterfeit ballot being cast,” Carling said.

“We’ve been prohibited from identifying those based on a corrupt ruling by a lower court judge,” Favorito said.

Favorito, best known in the state for fighting computerized voting machines, had his lawsuit against the Fulton County Board of Registration and Elections alleging fraudulent votes diluted their votes revived by the Georgia Court of Appeals after the state supreme court vacated the earlier ruling upholding dismissal.

The bar introduced--and the court accepted over defense objections--as evidence a November 2020 letter from computer scientists stating that there was no credible evidence of election fraud. The list is a who’s-who of computer scientists, including two who Favorito said he found credible and relied upon.

“We are aware of alarming assertions being made that the 2020 election was ‘rigged’ by exploiting technical vulnerabilities. However, in every case of which we are aware, these claims either have been unsubstantiated or are technically incoherent,” the scientists’ statement said. “To our collective knowledge, no credible evidence has been put forth that supports a conclusion that the 2020 election outcome in any state has been altered through technical compromise.”

Favorito testified the VoterGA material hasn’t been peer reviewed or submitted for scholarly publication. “This isn’t intended to go in a scholarly publication. This is simply evidence that we have found and reported on it publicly, and we put the methodology out there for people to verify” whether the conclusions were correct, he said.

There is no evidence of widespread voter fraud in Georgia or any other state during the 2020 election, despite multiple recounts, audits and lawsuits sought by Trump and his allies after he sought to contest his loss.

Disbarment Sought

The state bar argues Eastman should be disbarred based on the 11-count notice of discipline alleging violations of moral turpitude, ethics rules, and state law regulating lawyer conduct.

The former Chapman University law dean wrote two memos to Trump campaign officials outlining potential scenarios where slates of electors could be rejected, including unproven allegations of election misconduct and fraud.

Trump, Eastman, and 17 others were indicted in Georgia on racketeering charges in the plan to declare Trump the winner of the presidential election.

The bench trial before State Bar Court Judge Yvette Roland began in June, and testimony has continued intermittently. Additional trial days are scheduled Sept. 26-29, and Oct. 3-4 and Oct. 6. Roland will make her recommendation about Eastman to the California Supreme Court, which has ultimate supervision over lawyer licensing and discipline.

The Office of Chief Trial Counsel represents the bar. Miller Law Associates represents Eastman.

The case is In Re Eastman, Cal. State Bar, No. SBC-23-O-30029, hearing 9/15/23.