We continue to wait for the California State Bar judge to return her verdict in the state’s wrongly brought and highly political disbarment proceeding against me. Her ruling is due by the end of this month.
Meanwhile, a major shoe has dropped in the case brought against me, President Trump, and 17 others in Georgia. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has been forced to admit that she engaged in a “personal relationship” (otherwise called an affair) with the top prosecutor she hired and to whom she has paid some $700,000 in fees.
It has now been conceded by Ms. Willis and Nathan Wade that they took trips together to luxury locations. Mr. Wade’s estranged wife has produced receipts showing that Mr. Wade paid for tickets for Ms. Willis.
Willis and Wade have been ordered to appear before Judge Scott McAfee on February 15th to determine if one or both of them should be removed from the case, or if it should be assigned to another prosecutor’s office entirely. It is even possible that the case could be dismissed or be referred to the state’s Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council to determine how to proceed.
Even as Judge McAffee determines how to proceed, Willis’ office is moving aggressively to prosecute me and the others. I’ve already incurred a fortune in legal fees. While I’m very blessed to have received over $600,000 in donations to my legal defense fund, the costs I’ve incurred thus far are currently three times as much.
My family and I simply are not in a position to handle these extraordinary legal costs by ourselves. We are depending on people of goodwill for help. I urgently hope that you will act today to help me defend against the lawfare attacks we are facing.
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District Attorney Willis’ defense against demands that she be removed or otherwise sanctioned is that even though she has a personal relationship with the prosecutor to whom she has authorized $700,000 in payments, she did not have “an actual conflict” of interest. That is a fact not yet in evidence.
Legal ethics require prosecutors to avoid even the appearance of impropriety. Here, Ms. Willis may have personally profited from her prosecution of me, President Trump and the other defendants in this case. I expect Judge McAffee to explore this very possibility in his hearing next week.
But beyond the existence of an actual conflict of interest, Judge McAffee should also closely examine the appearance of a conflict. Ms. Willis ran for office on the express promise that she would “get” Donald Trump. I and others got scooped up in her zeal to go after President Trump.
To pursue this case, she hired Nathan Wade as a Special Counsel. It was a curious hire to many (including the New York Times) because he has little experience with major criminal cases and scant if any experience with election cases or those where a RICO conspiracy is being alleged.
Appearances matter very much in high-profile cases such as mine, something that Ms. Willis should have learned the hard way.
As she was preparing to bring the current case, she notified State Senator Burt Jones that he was a target of the investigation for signing a “false” certificate as an elector for President Trump. She later endorsed and appeared at a fundraising event for a Democrat candidate who was running against Mr. Jones. Sen. Jones asked that she be removed from the case, and a Fulton County judge agreed, entering an order disqualifying the District Attorney’s office from prosecuting Sen. Jones. The judge called Willis’ conduct in that matter, “a ‘What are you thinking’ moment.”
I don’t know what will happen at the hearing next week. Shockingly, Ms. Willis has asked that the hearing be cancelled and that there is no need for fact finding by the judge. Her basis for that assertion? She said she did nothing wrong so that should be sufficient.
Meanwhile, the appeals court in Washington DC has finally ruled on whether President Trump is immune from prosecution as he has asserted. Taking a month to decide the matter, they ruled against President Trump. This is a developing situation with many procedural issues yet to be determined. The trial has been delayed and it is unknown when it will begin.
I have been named an unindicted co-conspirator in Jack Smith’s case. Democrat activists are demanding that I also be indicted.
The ferocity and extent of the various lawfare attacks against me were unimaginable. The State Bar disbarment trial and potential appeal, fighting off an attempt to have me disbarred by the US Supreme Court, the Georgia prosecution that seeks to land me in prison, and potential prosecution in Washington, DC by Joe Biden’s DOJ hand-picked special counsel Jack Smith are each, by themselves, a monumental undertaking. But taken together, they are collectively overwhelming.
I am likely going to need to raise over $3 million to contend with the totality of the lawfare assault being waged against me. There’s no way I can defend myself without the help of good people like you.
I urgently need your help to strengthen my defense. Will you consider donating today of $50, $100, $250, $500 or even $1,000 or more? It would mean so much to me and my family.
The left is trying to ruin me and, in the process, send a clear message to other conservative lawyers that they dare not lend legal expertise to any candidate or cause that challenges their left-wing agenda.
A shoe has definitely dropped in the Georgia case with the uncovering of potentially disqualifying behavior by DA Fani Willis and her top prosecutor. Who knows when the next shoe will drop in this or one of the other cases. I am going to fight the radical left as long as it takes to win, but I can’t do it alone. Please help sustain my defense.
Thank you for your friendship, prayers, and financial support.
Sincerely,
John Eastman
Constitutional Scholar
Attorney for President Donald Trump