Thread by @Orly_licious

⚖️ Oct 30, 2023: "Join The Circus" #LukeCrew! 🧵 At Noon EDT, it's Day 28 of the Disbarment Trial of #JohnEastman. Plan is more testimony with John Eastman. Randy Miller says he needs an "hour" then CA Bar's @StateBarCA cross-ex? #EastmanTrial Watch here: app.zoom.us/wc/97985435232…

Though most know Jim Dale now as the brilliant narrator of the Harry Potter books, Jim was a big Broadway star. One of his hits was BARNUM and this song fits: "Join The Circus".

To catch up with coverage, #EastmanTrial livetweets 🧵
9/8 Michael Gableman
9/12 John Yoo
9/13 Garland Favorito
9/14 Garland
9/15 Garland Disastrous Cross threadreaderapp.com/thread/1700197…
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9/26 John Yoo
9/27 John Yoo & Joseph Fried
9/28 John Droz
9/29 Kurt Olsen & Ray Blehar
10/3 Ray Blehar threadreaderapp.com/thread/1706716…
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10/4 Ray Blehar & Stan Young
10/6 Kurt Olsen & John Eastman
10/17 More Kurt Olsen & John Eastman
10/18 John Eastman
10/19 Stan Young & John Eastman threadreaderapp.com/thread/1709604…
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https://twitter.com/Orly_licious/status/1714300908673155412

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https://twitter.com/Orly_licious/status/1715011579928781105

10/20 Character Witnesses & John Eastman
10/23 John Eastman - Jan 5 & 6 2021
10/24 John Eastman

https://twitter.com/Orly_licious/status/1715387566394859923

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10/30 is my 18th day of play-by-play coverage of #EastmanTrial. I'm grateful for your votes of confidence with Buy Me A Coffee. Thank you everybody! 💙
Someone just supported Luke Johnson on @buymeacoffee! 🎉 You can support by buying a coffee☕ here — buymeacoffee.com/lukejohnson2/c…

#EastmanTrial Abbreviation Key:
YR = Presiding Judge Yvette Roland
DC = California Bar's Duncan Carling
RM = Randall "Randy" Miller, Counsel for Eastman
JE = John Eastman
CAB =California Bar
OCTC = CA Bar's Office of Chief Trial Counsel

1st of several trials over disqualifying Trump from the 2024 ballot starts in Colorado. Here's a link. It'll be available on YouTube so we're sticking with Eastman; today is a big day of testimony. But if #LukeCrew wants, we can cover this...

Webinar room is up so you can log in, Trial is scheduled to begin in 5 minutes but they have housekeeping and generally start a bit later.

Before we start, thank you #LukeCrew 💪 for being awesome. I’m glad we met. There's so much news going on, but I think the #EastmanTrial is important for democracy. We'll see this testimony again in Fulton County. Hugs! And here we gooooo!

#EastmanTrial: Everybody's on Zoom again today. I like the Zoom, you can see Duncan Carling, Randall Miller & John Eastman's faces much more clearly. Randy is again in a non-descript room, hope it's a hotel because it would be sad to live in such a dull place 💀

I'd also like to thank my friends @tomryanlaw & @arizonaslaw, I've learned so much from them about livetweeting and Arizona law. If you aren't following them, highly recommend it. #EastmanTrial wouldn't be the same without them. 💙

Judge Yvette Roland just mentioned today is the 31st day of #EastmanTrial. My bad, lost a few days there which was easy with all the stops & starts. Judge Roland is starting with some housekeeping.

They discuss the stipulation of withdrawn witnesses & exhibits. Today's plan: 1 more hour of direct of John Eastman, then cross-ex by CA Bar, then further redirect & cross if needed, then Randall Miller closes Respondents case-in-chief. #EastmanTrial

Then court will make a preliminary finding of culpability, then CA Bar would put on aggravation witnesses if needed, then Prof. Grimmer as rebuttal. There's 11/2 for rebuttal & aggravation witnesses. CA Bar can be live in court. #EastmanTrial

11/3 will be in person oral Closing Arguments (no more than 75 mins). No more than 75 pages for post trial briefs & only cite to trial information. #EastmanTrial

Eastman says he's "coming down with something" and wants to appear remotely. CA Bar's witnesses are Stephen Richer, Bo Dahl, Laskin & Marx (didn't get their full names). Now Eastman is being sworn.

#EastmanTrial: Randall Miller starts with moving character mitigation declarations into evidence (the non-live declarations, like Judge Philip Mautino Ret.). news.bloomberglaw.com/litigation/eas…

The hour starts at 1:55pm EDT, let's see if it's really an hour. ⏰ Miller starts with a PA letter. Eastman goes back to the idea that mail-in ballots were returned before they were listed as being sent out.

Eastman disputes Mr. Marx' testimony; Marx said they were early voters. Eastman says he & Rep. Ryan were right, 58K ballots returned prior to mail date & 51K returned same/next day. Footnote says "generated labels" so weren't early votes. It's still an issue. "More than margin!"

Eastman disputes Mr. Marx' testimony; Marx said they were early voters. Eastman says he & Rep. Ryan were right, 58K ballots returned prior to mail date & 51K returned same/next day. Footnote says "generated labels" so weren't early votes. It's still an issue. "More than margin!"

John Eastman relied on John Droz team's information and kept updating a spreadsheet he made. (We covered Droz' testimony, see above. Droz & his team had no experience in elections or election administration and most of his testimony was irrelevant & inadmissible.)

Opinion: It's remarkable that people like John Eastman were so desperate to do Trump's bidding they relied on unqualified cranks like Ray Blehar, Stan Young & others. While they have pro experience, it wasn't in elections. But Eastman didn't care if he validated his biases.

Eastman looked at Trump v Wisconsin Election Commission case. Did Trump have standing? They said yes on standing. There was a remedy available, remand to legislature if won on merits. Dismissed on laches. (Remember this example when MAGAs say no merits were ever reached).

Eastman used the idea that "failed elections" & other failures would revert back to the state legislatures. Eastman says the 7th Circuit confirmed this 12/20. Miller has the wrong cite, "we'll come back to that". #EastmanTrial

Miller: Did you create any chart or tool tracking the types of illegality you were investigating?
Eastman: Yes I did, Word document with statutes, notes, # of ballots, endnotes...
RM brings up Eastman's chart. #EastmanTrial

RM: Why did you create this?
JE: After I filed intervention for Trump at SCOTUS, my info became public & received a lot of information. Created this to "keep up".
RM walks JE through the columns of the chart.

RM: How did you use this info?
JE: PA had a lot of info, lots found its way into my brief. The info I found turned into allegations in those briefs. [Eastman is trying to rebut the CA Bar's claims by saying his info was validly used. Judge won't admit for "truth of the matter" & uses Dobbs/Powell info, Chinese servers as examples, hearsay.]

For those playing the Randall Miller drinking game: At 1:22pm EDT Judge Roland admonishes Miller: DON'T LEAD THE WITNESS. 🍺 #EastmanTrial

Miller asks Eastman about Bill Barr's statement that he found no fraud that would affect the outcome of the election.
JE: 1st thing I noticed is it talked about fraud but not illegality, so I didn't take it as closing the door about illegality in swing states. Also had suspicions about the veracity. The head of public integrity unit "resigned in a huff". It raised questions if Barr's statement was accurate so "didn't give it much credence". #EastmanTrial

CA Bar objects & moves to strike on the public integrity unit. Objection sustained.
RM: How did you inform yourself on the PIN?
JE: I believe news accounts, sworn depos, letters saying don't investigate, public records requests came back "no responsive docs"... no or anemic investigations.
CA Bar objects: hearsay. Sustained.

Letter from former federal attorney McSwain. CA Bar Objection: Contents are hearsay. Miller: Eastman was informed by. Judge: How relevant to NDC? Dated 6/9/21. Were you involved? JE: No that's not the point. Judge: Not about the point. Nothing in the NDC about Barr. RM: Responds to allegation that there was no fraud. Judge: Would be fine if not a hearsay statement. Looking at NDC paragraph 3, reference to Barr. Where in NDC is there a correlation between Barr & Eastman's charges? RM: Deals with "false" or "grossly negligent". Judge: Which allegation in NDC relates to Barr's statement? RM: Count 1, 6-page memo... Judge: I'm looking at specific allegations. When I write the decision, I want to know what connection from Barr's statement. Barr isn't subject of this proceeding. How is it connected? RM: It's in this case, testified to... CA Bar's statement that nothing was outcome determinative. Eastman was relating "fraud & Illegality". Judge asks again where Eastman was charged with misconduct related to Barr's statement. RM: Look at page 6... Judge: Page 1 last paragraph, Mr. McSwain: "Barr instructed me to not investigate" is hearsay, now it's double hearsay. Let's move on. It's not relevant. RM: It is related to no outcome determinative fraud. Judge: How is it not hearsay? RM: Eastman can rely on what he read here... Judge: You don't have Barr or McSwain here to instruct who said what to whom. RM: It's about Eastman's conduct... not if truthful or not... Judge: That's what it's about, don't waste time addressing issues non-relevant or overcomes hearsay objection. RM: Rebuts there weren't investigations of fraud... Eastman relied on it... Judge: He said he looked at it, next question RM: Were you informed by it? JE: I've been accused of still believing in fraud even though Barr and others said no. I still thought it wasn't credible. This document corroborates the statements I made in 2020. Judge: You are not addressing my rulings on hearsay. RM moves to admit. CA Bar: Still hearsay, not truth of the matter... and this doc is outside the time period. Judge: This document is not admitted. Denied. #EastmanTrial

Moves to Special Committee Report. Heidi Stirrup was liaison from White House to DOJ. Gave Eastman more "evidence" that Barr's statement was not credible. CA Bar objection: hearsay, judicial notice denied. Judge: Not admitted.

Miller brings up Declaration but its from 2022. Judge: This isn't something Eastman could have reviewed during the time period of the NDC (Notice of Disciplinary Complaint). Eastman says it was a discussion about Ms. Stirrup and AG Bill Barr. CA Bar objects: Calls for hearsay. Judge: Sustained. Dated July 9, 2022. JE: Found further confirmation of contradiction on Barr's statement. Judge: Not received, judicial notice has previously been denied. #EastmanTrial

RM shows Twitter posts from "FoiaFan". Eastman's not sure how, but they can be unrolled to "see all in the same screenshot". "No responsive records" showed JE there was more information that confirmed my belief. CA Bar objects. Judge: Sustained, strikes testimony. #EastmanTrial

Miller shows these tweets from "FOIAFan" and article by Joe Fried (who was so uncredible he wasn't allowed to return) about Jesse Morgan's alleged "PA truck" stuff. CA Bar objects. Both sustained for hearsay, not admitted.

👻 You may recall Jesse Morgan was the "ghost hunter". USPS blew Morgan's fantasy to smithereens. Eastman was informed by Morgan's declaration. Judge: How relevant since it was published in 2022? RM: Fortified Eastman's concerns. Judge: Already have. lancasteronline.com/news/politics/…

Miller tries more with Morgan article (Gateway Pundit is referenced). Judge: Not relevant. Move on.

Miller now walks Eastman through testimony by elected officials. They start with Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer's @stephen_richer testimony. Eastman notes that Yavapai County confirmed that signature verification at the time was not in compliance with state law.

CA Bar objects, judicial notice denied for this exhibit & opinion speaks for itself. Sustained.
RM: How did this inform you...
Judge: Relevant during the timeframe?
RM: Well...
Judge: Under advisement ruling from superior court Sep 2022, not certified...not relevant due to date.

One hour and 50 minutes in, here's a recap of #EastmanTrial with respect to Randall Miller's questioning of John Eastman on non-relevant, hearsay & out of time/date information for the CA Bar's Notice of Disciplinary Charges. Over and over and over...

Now Eastman is speaking to testimony by Jonathan Marx. Eastman thinks Marx' testimony was FALSE about the labels related to ballot. Verity Votes more votes cast than voter file. JE: To this day, # of ballots cast & counted vs. # of voters do not match (20K disparity, I think 110K). Marx said fell off voter rolls. Judge: Experience with voter rolls? JE: Experience with elections... I sue individuals who don't maintain them. Judge: But in connection with maintenance? JE: I don't do the maintenance itself. Judge: Not sure you have requisite knowledge. You can testify to lawsuits.

John Eastman gets testy: Maybe we should bring criminal charges against Mr. Marx.
Judge: How much more? (Miller said an hour, it's been 2 hrs.) #EastmanTrial is ending Fri. If that leaves 10 mins per side for closing, that will happen. [Seems unfair to CA Bar, but to be seen.]

Now talking about John Yoo and their discussion about the VP's authority. Yoo testified (see transcript list). CA Bar objects, Yoo testified, Eastman's should be discussing it further. RM: This is about after 2020 election. Judge: How is this summer fellowship talk relevant?

RM: 2 parties to these discussions...
Judge: Yoo was an expert witness with expert testimony... to wander off into thoughts or opinions is not really the best use of our time. Eastman testified about these issues.
RM: 2 parties to these discussions... difference in opinions...

RM: Nature of debate with Dr. Eastman...
Judge: Appropriate for Yoo's testimony to come in. This isn't Eastman countering expert opinion.
RM: Wasn't about that...
Judge: I don't know what this is about. Let's move on. #EastmanTrial

Back to John Yoo's article, "What Happens if No One Wins?". Yoo discussed this at length in his testimony (see transcript links). JE: This triggered my looking into this issue. In Oct, anticipating what might be election challenges. But the last line about "whether to count votes that remain in litigation" was important. They probably meant "legislatures"... Judge: You're not rewriting this article, right? JE: Relied on this in Dec 2020 & Jan 2021.

RM: Dr. Eastman, have you ever been disciplined by any legal disciplinary authority?
JE: No.
Miller asks to move Eastman's reply to the NDC into evidence. No, part of the court record. Miller wants a break to ask Eastman, but might be the end.
#EastmanTrial BREAK TILL 3pm EDT!!

Whew, lots! All right 💪 #LukeCrew! If Miller is really & finally done (yeah "an hour" was blown apart), it will be Duncan Carling's cross examination time! 🥳 This is what we've been waiting for in #EastmanTrial, so don't touch that dial! 🔥 I'm going to restart the thread so we don't go over the tweet limit.

Whew, lots! All right 💪 #LukeCrew! If Miller is really & finally done (yeah "an hour" was blown apart), it will be Duncan Carling's cross examination time! 🥳 This is what we've been waiting for in #EastmanTrial, so don't touch that dial! 🔥

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