Overview of the Trump-Eastman Connection

The relationship between Donald Trump, the 45th President of the United States, and John Eastman, a conservative legal scholar and attorney, centers on their collaboration during the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election. Eastman provided legal advice to Trump as part of efforts to challenge the election results, which Trump lost to Joe Biden by over 7 million popular votes and 74 Electoral College votes. This connection is significant in the context of The Big Lie, a narrative propagated by Trump and his allies alleging widespread voter fraud—claims that have been widely debunked by courts, election officials, and Trump’s own Department of Justice, including then-Attorney General Bill Barr, who found no evidence of fraud sufficient to alter the election outcome.

Nature and Evidence of the Relationship

John Eastman emerged as a key figure in Trump’s legal strategy following the 2020 election. In December 2020, Eastman authored a series of memos, often referred to as the "Eastman Memos," which outlined a plan for Vice President Mike Pence to reject certified Electoral College votes from certain states during the January 6, 2021, certification process. According to these documents, Eastman argued that Pence had the unilateral authority to disregard electors—a theory rejected by virtually all constitutional scholars and by Pence himself, who refused to act on the plan. The memos and related communications serve as primary evidence of Eastman’s role as a legal advisor to Trump during this period. Additionally, Eastman’s presence alongside Trump at a rally on January 6, where he spoke in support of overturning the election, further ties him to Trump’s efforts. Both individuals have since been indicted in separate cases—Trump by Special Counsel Jack Smith and Fulton County DA Fani Willis, and Eastman in the same federal and Georgia RICO cases—for their roles in schemes to subvert the election results.

Timeline and Significance to The Big Lie

The collaboration between Trump and Eastman intensified in late 2020, with the drafting of the memos in December and culminating in the events of January 6, 2021, when a mob of Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol, disrupting the certification of Biden’s victory. Eastman’s legal theories provided a framework for Trump’s broader campaign to delegitimize the election, a central pillar of The Big Lie. While Trump publicly and repeatedly claimed fraud, Eastman’s memos offered a pseudo-legal justification for actions that legal experts have deemed unconstitutional. The significance of this relationship lies in how it amplified efforts to undermine democratic processes, contributing to the Capitol attack and ongoing legal battles. Eastman’s disbarment in California in 2024 for his role in these events underscores the professional consequences of his involvement, while the debunked nature of his legal arguments highlights the lack of credible foundation for The Big Lie narrative.