- Net worth
- Unknown
- Crimes
- fake electors, obstruction, other
- Convicted of
- Preemptive pardon for potential federal charges related to efforts to overturn the 2020 election
- Original sentence
- N/A (preemptive pardon; no federal conviction)
- Time served
- N/A
Background
John Charles Eastman is a former dean of Chapman University School of Law (2007-2010) and constitutional law scholar. He holds a J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School and a Ph.D. in Government from Claremont Graduate School. Before joining Chapman, he served as a law clerk to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and practiced law at Kirkland & Ellis. He is the founding director of the Center for Constitutional Jurisprudence, a public-interest law firm affiliated with the Claremont Institute.
The Case
Eastman was never federally charged or convicted, but he received a preemptive federal pardon from President Trump in November 2025 as part of a batch of 77 pardons for allies involved in efforts to overturn the 2020 election. The pardon was described as "full, complete, and unconditional" but was largely symbolic since presidential pardons apply only to federal crimes and Eastman had no federal convictions.
Eastman was accused of being the architect behind efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election. He was a close adviser to Trump following the 2020 election and drafted a memo outlining steps Vice President Mike Pence could take to stop certification of electoral votes while presiding over Congress' joint session on January 6, 2021, to keep Trump in office. Even Eastman acknowledged his legal theory would lose 9-0 in the Supreme Court. He was disbarred from practicing law in California effective March 30, 2024, for his involvement in attempts to overturn the 2020 election. Even with the presidential pardon, he would need to demonstrate adequate rehabilitation and moral fitness to seek reinstatement to practice law in California.
The Pardon
On November 9, 2025, President Trump granted Eastman a full pardon along with 76 other allies tied to efforts to overturn the 2020 election. The pardon was issued preemptively, before any federal charges were filed. Government pardon attorney Ed Martin posted the signed proclamation on social media. The proclamation described efforts to prosecute those accused of aiding Trump's efforts to cling to power as "a grave national injustice perpetrated on the American people" and said the pardons were designed to continue "the process of national reconciliation."