Trump lawyer's employer furious they're being shunned because he wrote notorious 'coup memo'

According to Bulwark columnist Laura K. Field, the think tank that employs John Eastman, author of the legal memo asserting Congress could set aside the will of the voters and award the 2020 presidential election to Donald Trump, is furious they are under fire for his continued employment and are being punished for that offense. Eastman's memo has been derided by his critics as the "coup memo."

At issue, Field writes, is a dispute between the Claremont Institute and American Political Science Association, which chose to cancel appearances by Eastman at their conference over fears he might draw protesters and disrupt the proceedings.

That explanation didn't mollify Ryan Williams, president of the think tank, who issued a statement reading, in part: "Last Friday [i.e., September 24], I made the decision to withdraw the Claremont Institute's program [from the annual APSA meeting] this year after APSA, without explanation, moved all 10 of our panels (and our reception) to a "virtual" format. Though APSA Executive Director Steven Smith would never confirm directly, it became clear that Claremont Institute Senior Fellow John Eastman's independent role as President Donald Trump's attorney during challenges to the 2020 election was at issue."

He then added, "When we inquired for specifics, so that we might assess the safety of the rest of Claremont staff and participants in Seattle and prepare accordingly, we got no response. . . . APSA decided to cave to the mob this time, betraying a core principle of academic freedom and republicanism: reasoned debate about even the most controversial political and intellectual topics."

Noting that Claremont has doubled down in their defense of Eastman, with Williams writing in fundraising letters stating, "Under the excellent leadership of John C. Eastman, our Claremont legal team continues to be the 'point of the spear'—always arguing our cases based on originalist, natural law-based principles consistent with the Founders' Constitution, and not on 'international law' or multiculturalist ideology and 'tribalism.'" Field writes that leadership of the organization only have themselves to blame for falling out of favor.

"The Claremont Institute's leadership has backed itself into a corner. Straight propaganda and misinformation outlets are dime-a-dozen on the right today. Claremont's value-added is its perceived intellectual seriousness, which comes from publishing the Claremont Review of Books, organizing speakers and panels at APSA, and hosting conferences and receptions," she accused. "These days, though, the Claremont Review is not what it once was, and Claremont's web publication, the American Mind, routinely publishes pieces that damage the institute's reputation for intellectual integrity. And so their involvement in APSA is one of the few external legitimating elements remaining. Once that is lost, so goes much of the intellectual patina that is the Claremont trademark." You can read more here.

In other news: Jen Psaki flips Peter Doocy's question to remind Fox News viewers about Trump's insurrection, WATCH:

Jen Psaki flips Peter Doocy's question to remind Fox News viewers about Trump's insurrectionyoutu.be