‘This is not who we are’: Chapman professor represents Trump in lawsuit
John Eastman, Henry Salvatori Professor of Law and Community Service at Chapman University's Dale E. Fowler School of Law
In an attempt to upend the election results, Chapman law professor John Eastman is representing President Donald Trump in a Supreme Court case filed Dec. 8 in Texas. The lawsuit aims to invalidate millions of votes cast in the states of Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan and Wisconsin in a last-ditch effort to reverse President-elect Joe Biden’s 306-232 Electoral College victory over Trump.
Trump filing a motion to intervene in the case comes shortly after the Supreme Court dismissed a request from Pennsylvania Rep. Mike Kelly, among others, that similarly called to reject the state’s election results. In the court documents, Eastman, who serves as counsel of record, associated his credentials – email, phone number and physical address – to Chapman University. This initiative generated outrage and humiliation from the institution’s community.
“It’s disappointing that a professor would take on a case which has no merit and continue to embarrass the university,” said Wylie Aitken, chair of Chapman’s Board of Trustees. “As chair of the board, I’m willing to accept his resignation at any time.”
Eastman did not respond to The Panther’s request for comment.
Aitken reaffirmed that Chapman is dedicated to bettering itself as a diverse and equitable university, most recently with the recruitment of a vice president of diversity. He co-wrote a statement released by President Daniele Struppa to the Chapman community Dec. 10, clarifying that while Eastman is able to represent clients of his choosing, he is not free to affiliate his private practice with Chapman University. The president apologized on behalf of the Chapman community’s concern and further added that the university does not participate in, endorse or intervene in political campaigns.
“I’d rather not be in a controversy every other week if I can avoid it, but it is what it is. People have their independent ability; as an attorney, he’s free to accept whatever clients he thinks he should accept,” Struppa said. “But I wish he hadn’t used our name as his address and his email.”
President Daniele Struppa released a statement Dec. 10 that clarifies the university is not affiliated with law professor John Eastman's filing with the Supreme Court.
Struppa has asked Eastman “to remove any reference to Chapman University” from formal Supreme Court filings and told The Panther that Eastman intends to do so. Aitken said it remains an open question whether further action will be taken with Eastman’s position at Chapman University as a tenured Henry Salvatori Professor of Law and Community Service.
“I know I would advocate that we take a strong look at it, not just continue to ask that he stop this conduct,” Aitken said. “To me, this breached his duties to the university and we should look at it deeper.”
This is not the first time the law professor has come under fire. Earlier in the semester, Eastman was scrutinized for writing a Newsweek opinion piece Aug. 12 that questioned Vice President-elect Kamala Harris’ eligibility, as the daughter of immigrants, to serve in her upcoming position. At the time, Struppa responded Aug. 17 stating the university is committed to offering an environment of free speech and academic freedom.
In August, Chapman faculty signed a petition requesting the administration “reiterate its commitment to an environment that welcomes all students.” Similarly, the faculty – led by English professor Tom Zoellner – has now gathered 95 signatures across six colleges to denounce Eastman’s legal action.
"John Eastman's brief asking the Supreme Court to overturn the 2020 election in multiple states is a disgraceful attack on American democracy and must be regarded as such,” the Dec. 10 statement reads. “This filing of errors and outright falsehoods – in which Eastman has used his Chapman email and phone number – is contrary to the core values of this university and should be regarded as an embarrassment. This is not who we are."
“John Eastman’s brief asking the Supreme Court to overturn the 2020 election in multiple states is a disgraceful attack on American democracy and must be regarded as such. This filing of errors and outright falsehoods – in which Eastman has used his Chapman email and phone number – is contrary to the core values of this university and should be regarded as an embarrassment. This is not who we are.”
The public image Eastman has cast upon Chapman University leaves graduates, like spring 2020 graduate Haley Anderson, concerned about how they’ll be viewed as applicants seeking professional work in an already unpredictable job market.
“I understand why (Chapman) wouldn’t want to take a political stance, but there are people who will,” Anderson said. “That, as an alumna, scares me because what if someone doesn’t know what Chapman is, googles it and the first thing they see is this lawsuit … That’s going to reflect poorly on me as someone who went to Chapman.”
Struppa said he understands the community’s distress, but views concerns that Chapman’s reputation may be diminished as “exaggerated,” outside of a possible negative effect on the Dale E. Fowler School of Law. Also referencing prospective Chapman students, he doesn’t believe Eastman’s independent actions as a lawyer have an impact on those seeking education at Chapman.
“I would be very surprised if anyone wanted to (study here) and say, ‘Well, I’m not going to go anymore because they have a law professor that has written things that I find very distasteful,” Struppa said.
Within the brief Eastman penned, he stated there has never been an election cycle in which a presidential nominee won both Florida and Ohio, but did not secure the overall electoral vote. This is false; former President Richard Nixon lost to former President John F. Kennedy in 1960 although he was victorious in Florida and Ohio. Further, even if Eastman’s claim were in fact true, his claim does not indicate election fraud.
“We as a university deserve so much better than this; what he wrote in that brief, I wouldn’t even accept from an undergraduate student,” said Lori Cox Han, a presidency scholar at Chapman. “Maybe I need to drop off a copy of my (presidency) book for John Eastman, because clearly he doesn’t know a lot on the subject. He can go represent whoever he wants … but why he had to drag Chapman into it is beyond me.”
“He can go represent whoever he wants … but why he had to drag Chapman into it is beyond me.”
Attorney General William Barr and the U.S. Justice Department found no widespread evidence of voter fraud Dec. 1. In addition, Republican Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn, a Texas senator, has even spoken out about the lawsuit filed in his state, telling CNN, “I frankly struggle to understand the legal theory of it.”
In recent weeks, Trump’s own legal teams have either distanced themselves or completely dropped litigation on behalf of the president. Whether or not this is related to how Eastman was appointed to represent the president is unknown.
Fred Smoller, Chapman campaigns and elections professor, told The Panther that by associating his Chapman credentials with the lawsuit, Eastman is undermining university ideals of pursuing the truth. After working at the university for 37 years and seeing its leadership evolve, Smoller indicated Chapman’s reputation is facing a crossroads.
“The university has really worked hard – the faculty, the administration, the trustees – to establish a national reputation. And now we got one,” Smoller said. “But I don’t know if that’s the one we wanted.”
John Eastman is a senior fellow of the Claremont Institute, a conservative think tank. He is on leave of absence from Chapman University’s Dale E. Fowler School of Law this academic year and is currently teaching at University of Colorado Boulder. Fowler Dean Matt Parlow deferred all comments to President Daniele Struppa’s Dec. 10 statement.