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John Eastman, one of the chief architects of Donald Trump’s failed effort to overturn the 2020 presidential election, openly admitted that maybe he shouldn’t have sat for an interview with “60 Minutes,” which aired Sunday.
His decision to participate underscores the different tact he seems to be taking, when compared with some of his right-wing defendants in the election interference case in Georgia. Whereas Trumpian lawyers like Sidney Powell, Jenna Ellis and Kenneth Chesebro have taken plea deals and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors, Eastman — like Rudy Giuliani — is part of the winnowing group of lawyers who have not done the same.
The “60 Minutes” interview gave the impression that Eastman, much like the former president, sees trying his case in the court of public opinion as one of the best things he can do to defend himself. (He has pleaded not guilty in the Georgia case.)
In the interview, Eastman unironically claimed that efforts to hold him accountable in the election subversion case reflects that “the people are no longer in charge of the direction of their government.”
When host Scott Pelley asked why not a single state had found election fraud that would overturn its 2020 result, Eastman clung to far-right talking points, saying:
I think we are quickly turning into a country where there’s the pro-government party — or the uniparty, one might euphemistically call it — and folks that are concerned about the direction our country is going. The MAGA movement. The Tea Party movement before that, if you will. And the folks in those government offices tend to be on the one side of that dispute rather than the other.
FYI, “uniparty” is a buzzword popularized by the likes of Steve Bannon to promote the claim that Democrats, Republicans and others are working together to oppose former President Donald Trump’s illiberal ways, akin to the “deep state” conspiracy theory.
“60 Minutes” showed footage of Eastman’s inflammatory Jan. 6 speech at the Ellipse. There’s footage of pro-Trump rioters converging on the Capitol and calling for then-Vice President Mike Pence to be hanged. And the segment features Greg Jacob, who was Pence’s legal counsel, explaining that Eastman still sought to have Pence refuse certification even after the Capitol rioters had been cleared.
What Eastman may have lacked in exculpatory info, he tried to make up for with right-wing red meat.
And that’s arguably an indicator that Eastman is, thus far, committed to charting a separate path than other similarly situated MAGA lawyers in the Georgia case. Instead of appealing to the court for leniency, Eastman seems to be appealing to an increasingly angry MAGA movement — and Trump, who’s reportedly plotting retribution against his political foes if he takes back the White House.
Watch the full “60 Minutes” interview here: