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John C. Eastman
Eastman (2013)
Born	(1960-04-21) April 21, 1960 (age 64) Lincoln, Nebraska, U.S.
Education	University of Dallas (BA) University of Chicago (JD) Claremont Graduate School (PhD)
Occupation	Professor
Employer	Chapman University
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Elizabeth Eastman

John C. Eastman is a former American professor of law and former dean at the Chapman University School of Law. A former law clerk to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, he is the founding director of the Center for Constitutional Jurisprudence, a public interest law firm affiliated with the conservative think thank Claremont Institute. Eastman ran unsuccessfully as a Republican for California's 34th congressional district in 1990, and for the office of California Attorney General in 2010.

He drew controversy in 2020 for an op-ed which falsely suggested that then-presumed Democratic nominee for U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris was not an American citizen and thus not legally eligible for the position. As President Donald Trump sought to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in which he was defeated, during a January 2021 Oval Office meeting Eastman incorrectly told vice president Mike Pence he had the Constitutional authority to invalidate election results that had been certified by the states and the Electoral College. Pence did not accept Eastman's argument.

On January 13, 2020, Chapman UnIversity announced that Eastman is no longer employed by the university. Daniele C. Struppa, the president of Chapman University stated, "Dr. Eastman’s departure closes this challenging chapter for Chapman and provides the most immediate and certain path forward for both the Chapman community and Dr. Eastman. Chapman and Dr. Eastman have agreed not to engage in legal actions of any kind, including any claim of defamation that may currently exist, as both parties move forward".

Education

Eastman earned a Bachelor of Arts in politics and economics from the University of Dallas, Juris Doctor from the University of Chicago Law School, and PhD in Government from the Claremont Graduate School. During his time in law school, Eastman worked on the University of Chicago Law Review.

Career

Prior to law school, he served as Director of Congressional and Public Affairs at the United States Commission on Civil Rights in 1989. He was also the unsuccessful 1990 Republican nominee for United States House of Representatives in the California's 34th congressional district.

After law school, he clerked for Judge J. Michael Luttig at the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and Justice Clarence Thomas at the Supreme Court of the United States, then was an attorney with the law firm of Kirkland & Ellis, specializing in civil and constitutional litigation. He later joined Chapman to teach constitutional law. He has also appeared on the nationally-syndicated Hugh Hewitt show commenting on law.

Eastman served as an attorney for the State of South Dakota, representing it in a denied petition to the U.S. Supreme Court in a constitutional challenge to federal spending.

Eastman has represented the North Carolina legislature and the State of Arizona in unsuccessfully petitioning the Supreme Court in cases involving same-sex marriage, abortion, and immigration.

He testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee in 2014 arguing that President Barack Obama's unilateral suspension of deportation for illegal immigrants was unconstitutional.

Elections

1990 congressional campaign

In 1990 Eastman was unopposed in the primary to become the Republican challenger of long term 34th District incumbent Esteban Torres in California's San Gabriel Valley.

California Attorney General campaign

On February 1, 2010, Eastman resigned as Dean of the Chapman University School of Law to pursue the Republican nomination for California Attorney General. On April 1, a Superior Court judge denied Eastman's choice for ballot designation, "Assistant Attorney General", fearing that use of this title, granted by South Dakota for his work on a lawsuit, would be misperceived as a California title. The judge further denied Eastman's second choice, "Taxpayer Advocate/Attorney", but accepted his third choice, "Constitutional Law Attorney". Such designations typically reflect a candidate's current employment or elected office. Eastman finished second in the three-way Republican primary with 34.2% of the vote, behind Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley, who received 47.3%. Cooley advanced to the 2010 California Attorney General election, where he was defeated by Kamala Harris.

Board affiliations

Eastman is chairman of the Federalist Society's Federalism & Separation of Powers practice group. He is chairman of the board of the National Organization for Marriage and a director of the Public Interest Legal Foundation. He is both a member of the board and on the faculty at the Claremont Institute. He sits on the board of advisors of St. Monica's Academy and the advisory board of the St. Thomas More Law Society of Orange County.

Kamala Harris citizenship op-ed

In August 2020, Newsweek published an op-ed by Eastman questioning 2020 vice presidential candidate Kamala Harris's eligibility for the office. He asserted she could not be a U.S. citizen by birth despite being born in Oakland, California, if neither of her parents was a permanent resident at the time of her birth. Eastman said that she could have subsequently obtained citizenship derived from the naturalization of her parents if one of them had become a citizen prior to her 16th birthday in 1980, which would have allowed Harris to fulfill the nine-year citizenship requirement required to become a senator.

Many prominent legal scholars disagreed with Eastman's position, and many compared it to the birther-ism theory against President Barack Obama. Newsweek defended the column, while acknowledging that it was "horrified that this op-ed gave rise to a wave of vile Birtherism directed at Senator Harris". It stated there was no connection between the op-ed and the birther movement. Rather, the op-ed focused on the "long-standing, somewhat arcane legal debate about the precise meaning of the phrase 'subject to the jurisdiction thereof' and the Citizenship Clause of the 14th Amendment", also known as the jus sanguinis or jus soli debate. However, Axios noted that most constitutional scholars do not accept Eastman's view, labeling it "baseless." Axios also criticized him for brushing off the eligibility concerns of 2016 presidential candidate Ted Cruz, born in Calgary, Canada, in a 2016 National Review op-ed, claiming they were "silly".

Many academics dismissed Eastman’s legal argument. For instance, Erwin Chemerinsky, the dean of Berkeley Law School, told BBC: "Under section 1 of the 14th Amendment, anyone born in the United States is a United States citizen. The Supreme Court has held this since the 1890s. Kamala Harris was born in the United States." Harvard Professor Laurence Tribe was similarly dismissive, telling The New York Times “I hadn’t wanted to comment on because it’s such an idiotic theory. There is nothing to it.” One day after it published Eastman's op-ed, Newsweek published an opinion piece by legal scholar, Eugene Volokh, titled "Yes, Kamala Harris is Eligible to be Vice President," in which Volokh argues that Harris is a "natural-born citizen" under the U.S. Constitution and is therefore eligible to be vice president.

2020 presidential election

In 2020, Eastman represented U.S. President Donald Trump in a motion to intervene in Texas v. Pennsylvania, a case filed directly in the U.S. Supreme Court, wherein the state of Texas sought to annul the voting processes and, by extension, the electoral college selections of at least four other states. On December 11, 2020, the Supreme Court denied Texas's request for Original Action, holding in a short order that Texas did not have standing. It did not address the merits of any of Texas's claims. On January 2, 2021, Eastman reportedly participated in a Zoom call that Trump joined with legislators from Arizona, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin to talk about allegations of voter fraud. On January 5, 2021, Eastman met with Vice President Mike Pence at the behest of President Trump to make the controversial argument that the vice president had the power to alter or otherwise change electoral votes; Eastman's advice contradicted that of Pence's counsel, Greg Jacob, and conservative legal scholars and other Pence advisors, such as John Yoo and J. Michael Luttig. On January 6, Eastman recited misinformation and conspiracy theories to the crowd at the "Save America" rally that preceded the 2021 storming of the United States Capitol.

References

1. "Dr. John Eastman". Faculty Profile. Chapman University. Retrieved January 10, 2021.
2. "John C. Eastman". Conference on World Affairs. November 28, 2018. Retrieved January 14, 2021.
3. Chief, Ken Williams-SDGLN Editor in (September 22, 2011). "Meet NOM's new face of hate: John C. Eastman". San Diego Gay and Lesbian News. Retrieved August 16, 2020. {{cite web}}: |first= has generic name (help)
4. Stern, Mark Joseph (August 14, 2020). "The White Supremacist "Scholars" Pushing the Kamala Harris Birther Lie". Slate Magazine. Retrieved November 4, 2020.
5. "Here's Kamala Harris' birth certificate. Scholars say there's no VP eligibility debate". The Mercury News. August 18, 2020. Retrieved November 4, 2020.
6. "Newsweek apologizes for op-ed questioning Harris eligibility". AP NEWS. August 15, 2020. Retrieved November 4, 2020.
7. Baker, Peter; Haberman, Maggie; Karni, Annie (January 13, 2021). "Pence Reached His Limit With Trump. It Wasn't Pretty". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 14, 2021.
8. "Chapman Univarsity Announcements". Announcements. Chapman University. Retrieved January 13, 2021.
9. "John C. Eastman - C-SPAN.org". www.c-span.org.
10. "California's 34th Congressional District - Ballotpedia".
11. "Dean John Eastman On The Powers Of The Senate Vis-à-vis The SCOTUS Vacancy « The Hugh Hewitt Show". The Hugh Hewitt Show. February 15, 2016. Retrieved May 13, 2019.
12. "Search - Supreme Court of the United States". www.supremecourt.gov.
13. "Search - Supreme Court of the United States". www.supremecourt.gov.
14. "Search - Supreme Court of the United States". www.supremecourt.gov.
15. "Search - Supreme Court of the United States". www.supremecourt.gov.
16. "'Prosecutorial Discretion' Does Not Allow the President to 'Change the Law'" (PDF). Hearing on “Keeping Families Together: The President’s Executive Action On Immigration And The Need To Pass Comprehensive Reform”. December 10, 2014. Retrieved May 13, 2019.
17. , Los Angeles Times, Mike Ward, October 25, 1990. Retrieved August 19, 2020.
18. California Elections Page. Retrieved August 19, 2020.
19. 1990 primary election, California Secretary of State, March Fong Eu, June 5, 1990. Retrieved August 19, 2020.
20. "Eastman resigns as Dean of the Chapman University School of Law"; accessed April 27, 2014. Archived July 20, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
21. 2 AG hopefuls from O.C. lose ballot fight, Orange County Register, Martin Wisckol, April 1, 2010. Retrieved August 16, 2020.
22. "John Eastman". Ballotpedia. Retrieved August 15, 2020.
23. Leonard, Jack; Metha, Seema (November 25, 2010). "Steve Cooley concedes race for attorney general to Kamala Harris". Los Angeles Times. The Tribune Company. Retrieved January 10, 2021.
24. "StackPath". fedsoc.org. Archived from the original on January 29, 2013.
25. Crary, David (September 22, 2011). "John Eastman Named National Organization For Marriage Chairman". Huffington Post. Associated Press. Retrieved August 16, 2020.
26. "National Organization for Marriage". nationformarriage.org.
27. "Board of Directors - Public Interest Legal Foundation".
28. "Claremont Institute - Board of Directors". www.claremont.org.
29. "Curriculum and Faculty Committee - The Claremont Institute". www.claremont.org.
30. "Directors and Advisors - St. Monica Academy".
31. "AD VERITATEM" (PDF). December 2013. Retrieved May 13, 2019.
32. Eastman, John C. (August 12, 2020). "Some questions for Kamala Harris about eligibility | Opinion". Newsweek. Retrieved August 14, 2020. Were Harris' parents lawful permanent residents at the time of her birth? If so, then under the actual holding of Wong Kim Ark, she should be deemed a citizen at birth—that is, a natural-born citizen—and hence eligible. Or were they instead, as seems to be the case, merely temporary visitors, perhaps on student visas issued pursuant to Section 101(15)(F) of Title I of the 1952 Immigration Act? If the latter were indeed the case, then derivatively from her parents, Harris was not subject to the complete jurisdiction of the United States at birth, but instead owed her allegiance to a foreign power or powers—Jamaica, in the case of her father, and India, in the case of her mother—and was therefore not entitled to birthright citizenship under the 14th Amendment as originally understood .. If neither was ever naturalized, or at least not naturalized before Harris' 16th birthday (which would have allowed her to obtain citizenship derived from their naturalization under the immigration law, at the time), then she would have had to become naturalized herself in order to be a citizen. That does not appear to have ever happened, yet without it, she could not have been "nine Years a Citizen of the United States" before her election to the U.S. Senate.
33. "Editor's Note: Eastman's Newsweek column has nothing to do with racist birtherism". Newsweek. August 13, 2020. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
34. Savitsky, Shane. "Trump campaign official pushes baseless Newsweek op-ed claiming Harris may not be VP-eligible". Axios. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
35. "Trump stokes 'birther' conspiracy theory about Kamala Harris - BBC News". Bbc.com. October 20, 1964. Retrieved August 14, 2020.
36. Rogers, Katie (November 4, 2020). "Trump Encourages Racist Conspiracy Theory About Kamala Harris". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved November 4, 2020.
37. "Yes, Kamala Harris is eligible to be vice president | Opinion". Newsweek. August 13, 2020. Retrieved January 13, 2021.
38. Paul, Jess Bravin and Deanna (December 12, 2020). "Supreme Court Rejects Texas Challenge to Biden's Victory in Presidential Election". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved January 10, 2021.
39. Liptak, Adam (December 12, 2020). "Supreme Court Rejects Texas Suit Seeking to Subvert Election". NYT. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
40. "Trump's pressure on Georgia election officials raises legal questions". POLITICO. Retrieved January 10, 2021.
41. "A Roundup of the Crazy Things Trump and His Supporters Have Done This Week". Big Easy Magazine. January 5, 2021. Retrieved January 10, 2021.
42. Baker, Peter; Haberman, Maggie; Karni, Annie (January 13, 2021). "Pence Reached His Limit With Trump. It Wasn't Pretty". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 13, 2021.
43. Jennewien, Chris (January 6, 2021). "Chapman University President Condemns Controversial Law Professor Who Aided Trump". Times of San Diego.
44. Bowden, Ebony; Nelson, Steven; Feis, Aaron (January 6, 2021). "Trump addresses supporters at DC rally ahead of Congress vote certification". New York Post. Retrieved January 10, 2021.
45. Langford, Katie (January 8, 2021). "CU Boulder won't fire conservative scholar who spread "repugnant" conspiracy theories at D.C. rally". The Denver Post. Retrieved January 11, 2021. University of Colorado Boulder Chancellor Phil DiStefano chastised visiting scholar John Eastman for spreading conspiracy theories about election fraud, but said he would not fire the professor in a message to the campus community Thursday....On Wednesday, Eastman spoke at a rally for President Donald Trump in Washington, D.C., alleging without evidence that there was widespread voter fraud in the Nov. 3 general election and the Tuesday runoff election in Georgia.
46. Hayes, Rob (January 11, 2021). "Faculty call for firing of Chapman University professor who spoke at pro-Trump rally". ABC7 Los Angeles. Retrieved January 13, 2021.

External links

• Biography, Claremont Institute; accessed April 27, 2014.
• Biodata, Chapman University School of Law website; accessed April 27, 2014.
• papers.ssrn.com; accessed April 27, 2014.
• Eastman, John C. "Born in the USA-Rethinking Birthright Citizenship in the Wake of 9/11." University of Richmond School of Law 42 (2007): 955.

• 1960 births
• American legal scholars
• California Republicans
• Chapman University School of Law faculty
• Law clerks of the Supreme Court of the United States
• Living people
• National Organization for Marriage people
• People from Lincoln, Nebraska
• University of Chicago Law School alumni
• University of Dallas alumni
• Claremont Graduate University alumni
• Kirkland & Ellis alumni