(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) Attorney John Eastman, who represented former President Donald Trump in 2020 election-related lawsuits, was arrested in Arizona over allegations by Democratic prosecutors that he was involved in efforts to challenge the state’s election results.
Eastman refuted the prosecution’s claims, asserting that he was never involved in any Arizona-related litigation and had no communications with individuals in Arizona about the alleged alternate elector plan.
“I, of course, pled not guilty,” Eastman told reporters outside the courthouse on Friday. “I had zero communications with the electors in Arizona, zero involvement in any of the election litigation in Arizona or legislative hearings.”
John Eastman on Georgia Indictments: “It represents a crossing of the rubicon in our country implicating the fundamental First Amendment right to petition the government for redress of grievances”
— ALX 🇺🇸 (@alx) August 23, 2023
Expressing confidence in his acquittal, he added, “I’m confident that with the laws faithfully applied I will be fully exonerated at the end of this process.”
Eastman is the first Republican to be arrested following the grand jury indictments announced by Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes, a far-left Democrat who assumed office in 2023.
The charges also name Trump as an “unindicted co-conspirator.” Notably, this prosecution comes just months before the former president will face President Joe Biden in the 2024 general election.
Other individuals facing charges include former Trump campaign attorneys Boris Epshteyn, Christina Bobb, Jenna Ellis and former White House official Michael Roman.
The attorney general’s office initially announced charges against former Arizona Republican Party Chair Kelli Ward and others, including Tyler Bowyer, Nancy Cottle, Jacob Hoffman, Anthony Kern, James Lamon, Robert Montgomery, Samuel Moorhead, Lorraine Pellegrino, Gregory Safsten and Michael Ward.
Mayes announced the charges last month and quickly defended her decision to prosecute Republicans just months before a presidential election.
“We conducted a thorough and professional investigation over the past 13 months into the fake electors scheme in our state,” she claimed.
Addressing the timing of the charges, just months before the 2024 presidential election, she added, “I understand for some of you today didn’t come fast enough. And I know I’ll be criticized by others for conducting this investigation at all.”
She continued, “But as I’ve stated before, and we’ll say here again, today, I will not allow American democracy to be undermined.”
🚨#BREAKING: Kris Mayes announces indictments as a Grand Jury has just indicted a total of 18 Republicans, seven of whom have been redacted, for declaring that Donald Trump beat Joe Biden in Arizona during the 2020 presidential election. The charges include conspiracy, fraud, and… pic.twitter.com/hSCUta54Pr
— R A W S A L E R T S (@rawsalerts) April 25, 2024
