Attorney John Eastman appears before Atlanta grand jury, pleads the Fifth on some matters

Lawyer John Eastman, a key player in former President Donald Trump’s effort to discredit the official 2020 election results, appeared Wednesday before the Atlanta grand jury investigating actions in Georgia, but it is unclear if he divulged much to the panel.

“We advised our client John Eastman to assert attorney-client privilege and the constitutional right to remain silent where appropriate. Out of respect for grand jury secrecy, we will not disclose the substance of the questions or testimony,” his attorneys, Charles Burnham and Harvey Silverglate, said in a written statement.

Mr. Eastman has been named as a critical figure in a plan to prevent a number of swing states from certifying the 2020 results. The effort involved pressuring Vice President Mike Pence to avoid declaring President Biden the winner of the Electoral College during the certification process on Capitol Hill.

A left-leaning legal group, The 65 Project, has asked the Supreme Court to disbar Mr. Eastman.

Mr. Eastman is the latest figure to appear before the special grand jury set up by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.

The prosecutor says she is conducting a sober inquiry in post-election pressure on Georgia officials, where Mr. Biden won in an upset victory, though some Republicans are resisting the grand jury or decrying the political atmosphere around the investigation in an election year.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, South Carolina Republican, is appealing an order to testify while a judge ruled Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp must appear but not until after the November election in which he faces reelection.

Mr. Eastman’s attorneys accused Ms. Willis of punishing their client for pushing ideas that went against the grain.

“The District Attorney’s Office has set itself on an unprecedented path of criminalizing controversial or disfavored legal theories, possibly in hopes that the federal government will follow its lead,” they said. “Criminalization of unpopular legal theories is against every American tradition and would have ended the careers of John Adams, Ruth Ginsburg, Thurgood Marshall and many other now-celebrated American lawyers. We ask all interested observers of any political persuasion to join us in decrying this troubling development.”