John Eastman, one of the most prominent co-defendants in the Georgia election interference case, stood by his previous claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from former President Donald Trump.
After he agreed to surrender to Fulton County authorities in Georgia once District Attorney Fani Willis announced his indictment – along with 18 others – the former attorney for Trump reiterated his beliefs about the 2020 election.
Ali Vitali, a reporter for NBC News, asked Eastman after he was arrested whether he maintains that the election in 2020 was indeed stolen. Eastman responded:
“Absolutely. No question. No question about it.”
Eastman is sticking to his story, even though there has been no evidence presented that the 2020 presidential election was indeed stolen. In fact, many of the claims made by Eastman and others in this regard have been debunked.
The efforts that Eastman and others took to try to subvert the last presidential election were at the heart of the Georgia investigation that Willis led, which ultimately resulted in charges being handed down against Eastman, Trump and 17 other people.
On Tuesday, Eastman began the second of the defendants in the case to surrender to authorities after being charged.
In a statement that was posted to a website for his attorneys, Eastman said:
“I am here today to surrender to an indictment that should never have been brought. It represents a crossing of the Rubicon for our country, implicating the fundamental First Amendment right to petition the government for redress for grievances.”
Eastman wouldn’t respond when Vitali asked him whether he had fingerprints or a mugshot taken when he surrendered. He also wouldn’t speak to whether he’d try to seek immunity from being prosecuted in the case.
After being processed at the jail in Fulton County, where all the defendants will need to surrender to, Eastman was released on a bond of $100,000.
Each of the defendants are facing different charges as part of the sweeping indictment that obviously focused heavily on Trump.
Eastman specifically had nine charges levied on him, including charges under Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act and conspiracy to commit false statements, writings and forgery.
He’s further accused of helping to design and push a legal strategy that attempted to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, which included using groups of fake electors in multiple battleground states – including Georgia – to try to get the election results in Trump’s favor.
Willis said that all of the defendants in the case have until noon on Friday to surrender themselves to authorities voluntarily. It would be expected that Willis would issue arrest warrants for any defendants who don’t turn themselves in by that time, or don’t make other arrangements with authorities to do so.
For his part, Trump said that he planned to turn himself into Fulton County authorities on Thursday. When he does so, it’ll mark the fourth time he’s surrendered to authorities in either state-level or federal criminal charges this year.
