Eastman lawyer says plea deal would be rejected if offered in Jan. 6 case

A lawyer for John Eastman said he will not take a plea deal in the Department of Justice’s special counsel investigation into attempts to overturn the 2020 election.

Eastman, a lawyer whose legal memos contributed to former President Trump’s efforts to pressure Vice President Mike Pence to stop the certification of the 2020 presidential election, was confirmed by his lawyer Harvey Silverglate to be one of the unnamed co-conspirators mentioned in Tuesday's indictment of Trump.

In a statement, Silverglate said Eastman has not and will not be engaged in plea bargaining in the case with state or federal prosecutors.

“With respect to questions as to whether Dr. Eastman is involved in plea bargaining, the answer is no,” the statement read. “But if he were invited to plea bargain with either state or federal prosecutors, he would decline. The fact is, if Dr. Eastman is indicted, he will go to trial. If convicted, he will appeal. The Eastman legal team is confident of its legal position in this matter.”

The statement also said the recent indictment relies on a “misleading presentation of the record to contrive criminal charges against Presidential candidate Trump and to cast ominous aspersions on his close advisors.” It further states that Pence is on the record casting doubts on the validity of the 2020 election himself.

“For example, the uninitiated reader of the indictment would have no idea that former Vice President Pence is on record stating that in the 2020 election there were ‘significant allegations of voting irregularities and numerous instances of officials setting aside state election law,’” the statement continues. “This is but one example of the indictment’s false presentation of the record; countless more will be revealed in time.”