Former President Donald Trump’s former attorney and constitutional legal scholar, John Eastman, was arrested, booked, and arraigned Friday in Phoenix over his role in the 2020 election. Democratic Attorney General Kris Mayes brought charges and secured indictments in April against him, Arizona’s alternate Republican slate of electors, and a few others, including Rudy Giuliani and Trump’s former Chief of Staff Mark Meadows.
Trump is an unindicted co-conspirator.
Eastman, who voluntarily surrendered to arrest, pleaded not guilty to conspiracy, fraud, forgery, and related felony charges. The indictment, which was initially released without his name and a few of the others since they had not been served yet, accused him of pressuring the Arizona Legislature to “change the results of the election.” It said he “encouraged the Republican electors to vote on December 14, 2020, and spread false claims of widespread election fraud.” Additionally, it said he attempted to convince Vice President Mike Pence to “reject or at least delay the confirmation of the lawfully chosen electors.”
Eastman provided a statement outside the courthouse after the arraignment.
“These charges should’ve never been brought. I pled not guilty. I had zero communications with the electors in Arizona. Zero involvement in any of the election litigation in Arizona or legislative hearings. I’m confident that if the law is faithfully applied I will be fully exonerated at the end of this process,” he said.
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