Thread by @kyledcheney

HAPPENING NOW: Bar proceedings for John EASTMAN have begun. He's expected to testify today — his first true adversarial questioning since Jan. 6 — but we'll see if/when he asserts attorney-client privilege or the Fifth.

We're finally underway here. State bar counsel Duncan Carling telling the presiding judge that EASTMAN's plan to overturn the 2020 election "was baseless, completely unsupported by historic precedent or law and contrary to our values as a nation."

BAR COUNSEL: “It will be clear that all of Dr. EAstman’s conduct was fundamentally dishonest and intended to disrupt the lawful certificaiton of the winner of the 2020 election on Jan. 6.”

"The state bar will ask for disbarment."

EASTMAN's counsel Randall Miller:

"What you’ll hear from Dr. Eastman...is that he was not there to steal the election…the focus was on ensuring the election was properly and legally certified and votes were properly counted."

He says Eastman's theories were "tenable"

EASTMAN hast now taken the stand to face questions from California bar counsel. He's been sworn in.

EASTMAN now recounting how Cleta Mitchell recruited him to Trump's "election integrity" working group months prior to Nov. 3, 2020 in order to start preparing for post-election fights.

We wrote about this during Jan. 6 committee proceedings

politico.com/news/2022/02/2…

Bar counsel starting out by probing the details of Eastman's attorney-client relationship with Trump, which became formal in December 2020. Now introducing video of Eastman's appearance before Georgia state legislators.

Bar counsel going over false stats that Eastman provided to Georgia Republican legislators when he testified on Dec. 3, 2020. — from number of underage people registered to vote to number of felons who votes (both #s Eastman used were sharply inflated)

Bar counsel now pressing Eastman on his claim that states might be able to decertify 2020 election months or even years after-the-fact. Eastman hedges a little, says it's "uncharted territory" and has never been tested but thinks it could be done under certain circumstances.

EASTMAN says he doesn't recall who from Rudy Giuliani's orbit first put the two of them in contact about electors, but he says it may have been Boris EPSHTEYN.

EASTMAN claims he doesn't recall discussing presidential electors with RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel while Trump was also on the line.

Bar counsel reads him transcript of McDaniel's Jan. 6 committee tesitmony. Eastman says he still doesn't remember.

First real attorney-client privilege fight comes up as bar ocunsel (and judge) press Eastman to describe his communications in Dec. 2020 about "contingent" election.

Bar counsel now discussing the @mollyesque article about effort to protect the vote, which Eastman has pointed to as somehow supportive of his claims of a conspiracy to rig the election for Biden. time.com/5936036/secret…