Federal Special Counsel Jack Smith – who was illegally appointed – has obtained his second indictment of former President Donald Trump in Washington DC. In the process, he’s once again put a target on me as well.
Smith sought and received a superseding federal indictment designed to attempt to protect his case from the reach of the US Supreme Court’s ruling earlier this year that a president is entitled to some level of immunity for official acts. Smith’s new approach is to attempt to portray his allegations against President Trump as being personal and political, unrelated to his duties as President.
In the process he refers to me as an “unindicted co-conspirator” who acted as a “private attorney” to Mr. Trump.
This new indictment adds to the lawfare assault aimed my way and increases my overall legal costs, which already are astronomical. I’ve had to expend well over $1 million already defending myself and am looking at millions more going forward.
I can’t handle this burden alone and hope that you will stand by my side in support of the John Eastman Legal Defense Fund. Please give generously.
There are some big problems for Smith in this new indictment.
First, as Judge Aileen Cannon in Florida has already ruled, Jack Smith has no legal authority to indict or prosecute anyone because his appointment as Special Counsel did not conform to constitutional and statutory requirements. At some point, the US Supreme Court is likely going to have to resolve this issue.
In addition, the problem for Smith is that a primary job of any president, including President Trump, is to ensure that our laws are faithfully executed as required of the president by Article II of the US Constitution.
My representation of President Trump was intended to help the president fulfill his constitutional responsibilities under Article II by ensuring that election illegalities and irregularities were properly raised and considered. Whether my work is characterized as that of a private attorney or working in some other capacity does not change the reality that President Trump was acting in his capacity as president and thus is entitled to the immunity protections outlined several months ago by the US Supreme Court.
You don’t have to take my word for this position. A liberal legal scholar wrote recently in The Hill publication that the superseding indictment “pours old wine into new bottles.”
Nonetheless, Jack Smith is moving forward with this case. He’s counting on a federal judge – who has already indicated that she believes Trump is responsible for instigating an insurrection – to keep him on the case. And he’s confident that an all-Democrat jury in DC (where 92% of voters supported Biden over Trump in 2020) will convict Mr. Trump of whatever charges are brought.
This new indictment of Mr. Trump in DC means that my legal team will need to monitor every development to make sure my interests are protected. And that’s on top of all the other cases that the lawfare left have orchestrated against me.
They’ve gone after my law license in California and got a State Bar Court judge to recommend my disbarment. I’m appealing that outrageous ruling, but my license has been put on “inactive” status and I am not permitted to practice law in California while I appeal.
They’re also trying to get me disbarred before the US Supreme Court.
Most significantly, they’ve formerly indicted me in two states – Georgia and Arizona – where Democrat prosecutors are trying to imprison me for representing President Trump.
You are probably familiar with the incredible shenanigans of the disgraced Georgia DA Fani Willis, but many people are not following what’s going on in Arizona.
The court in Arizona has designated the state’s prosecution of me a “Complex Case” and recently ruled that my trial there won’t begin until January 2026 because of the extensive amount of work needed on depositions, motions, discovery, interlocutory appeals and other matters.
Think about the implications of just this one case: I will need to pay a team of skilled lawyers to work day in and day out for a year and a half before I ever get my day in court!
The Arizona case alone could cost over $1 million to defend – more than my legal defense fund has raised so far – and that’s just for this one case. I am looking at needing north of $3 million to fight the lawfare radicals who are trying to ruin me.
There’s no way that I can take on such a burden by myself. I need the support of patriotic Americans like you to carry on my defense and defeat the lawfare radicals.
I ask you to consider a donation today of whatever you can manage – $25, $50, $100, $250, $500, or $1,000 or more.
Though the day-to-day legal battle is all consuming, I occasionally allow myself to think about how I will feel when one day – God willing – I can look back after we’ve prevailed and I can return my focus to what I love and do best – fighting for the rights of Americans and preventing government officials from abusing their power to the detriment of the American people.
Thank you for whatever you can do to ensure that day arrives for me and my family, and for those that we represent.
Sincerely,
John Eastman
Constitutional Scholar
Former Attorney for President Donald Trump