Trump lawyer John Eastman raises big bucks from religious zealots: columnist

Attorney John Eastman has raised nearly half a million dollars on a legal-defense fundraising page teeming with supporters invoking the language of “Holy War,” columnist Teri Sforza reported today at the Orange County Register.

Eastman is the target of disbarment proceedings and potential criminal charges in connection with his authorship of the infamous “coup memo” on behalf of Donald Trump, as Raw Story reported. He’s parlayed that status into a lucrative fundraising campaign and Sforza cited some juicy examples of comments on his GiveSendGo page.

“Heavenly Father, I beseech you to defeat the demon enemy of John Eastman and our great country whose founding your hand is visible in creating,” wrote a donor who gave $100 for Eastman’s legal defense, but not his/her name. “I pray you support our efforts to preserve it and provide comfort to John and his family through this trial. In Jesus name, amen.”

And this:

“Put on the full armor of God, for this is a battle of good versus evil!” said another anonymous $100 donor. “Nippy” gave a modest $19 but counseled that, “God also provides armor that will help us to ‘be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might’ and be able ‘to stand against the schemes of the devil.’” Another donor, who identified himself as Amir Zeinali, appealed to the Lord of Ibrahim, Noah, Moses, Jesus and Muhammed to protect Eastman and “silence his enemy.”

Sforza obtained some perspective from Jason Whitehead, associate professor of political science at Cal State Long Beach, who is working on a book about Christian conservative legal and constitutional narratives:

“You have to understand the biblical narratives driving the rhetoric,” Whitehead told Sforza. “It’s a huge part of the movement, more and more toward the end of the Trump administration. There’s a sense that Trump is the savior — this figure that’s not necessarily holy, but biblical — that could save Christians from persecution.”

As of this writing, Eastman’s fundraising page reports it has raised $467,156 toward a goal of $500,000.