John Eastman, the attorney who masterminded the legal strategy behind President Donald Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election, has been officially disbarred in California. This disbarment follows the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol and the subsequent legal repercussions faced by Eastman and other attorneys involved in representing Trump.
An FBI email summarizing the claims and a Justice Department PowerPoint slide deck note the woman claimed that around 1983, when she was around 13 years old, Epstein introduced her to Trump, "who subsequently forced her head down to his exposed penis which she subsequently bit. In response, Trump punched her in the head and kicked her out."
The Department of Justice needed yes votes from 12 grand jurors on a panel of 16-23 members in order to indict six Democratic members of Congress in connection with a video in which the lawmakers urged troops to refuse illegal orders. They reportedly got none. According to a report from Ryan J. Reilly of NBC News, not one of the empaneled grand jury members bought the DOJ's arguments in the case against Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ),
Donald Kinsella was appointed the U.S. attorney in New York's Northern District in place of John A. Sarcone III, who left his post as the acting U.S. attorney after a judge blocked Sarcone from any further involvement in the investigation of New York Attorney General Letitia James, claiming he was not lawfully serving in the office at the time the subpoenas were issued in the case.
Manhattan Federal Judge Alvin Hellerstein, who reserved decision, appeared unswayed by Trump's position, saying he'd sought two bites at the apple by first trying in state court to get his conviction tossed on account of the Supreme Court's July 2024 decision on presidential immunity and, when that didn't work, refocusing efforts in federal court. The judge said the strategy led Trump to miss the 30-day window to raise the matter federally, without a good cause excuse.
