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WASHINGTON, D.C. — Newly posted public records show John Eastman, disgraced right-wing activist attorney and central figure in the attempts to overturn the 2020 election, has filed an amicus brief in favor of a lawsuit brought by the predatory payday loan industry that seeks to gut the popular Consumer Financial Protection Bureau by striking down its independent funding structure as unconstitutional. Government watchdog Accountable.US called Eastman’s endorsement of the lawsuit expected before the U.S. Supreme Court next term a telling example of the kind of shady and extreme characters willing to support the payday loan industry’s meritless case. Eastman’s involvement is also a troubling omen for consumers given his close ties to ethically-challenged Justice Clarence Thomas and his wife Ginni.

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It reflects very poorly on the merits of the payday lender’s case against the CFPB that the little support they’ve mustered includes an architect of the violent coup attempt on January 6th,” said Jeremy Funk, spokesman for Accountable.US. “Yet consumers should be very concerned about how cozy Mr. Eastman is with Justice Thomas and his wife as the Supreme Court considers whether to go along with potentially the most devastating rollback of consumer protections in U.S. history.

“It’s apt that predatory lenders are the face of this scheme to shutter the CFPB as no industry has a bigger ax to grind against the bureau, having faced numerous fines for ripping off and deceiving consumers,” added Funk. “Payday lenders want to avoid any regulation of their triple-digit-interest loans that deliberately pull vulnerable communities into an endless debt cycle. This is all about industry payback to the agency that has successfully recouped billions of ill-gotten dollars on behalf of hard-working families. The right-wing special interests and politicians in their pocket who cheer on this lawsuit only view the CFPB’s success protecting consumers with contempt, not the boon to the economy that it is.”

 

Eastman Ties to the Thomas’: Among the many actions Eastman took to overturn and litigate the 2020 election, he reportedly presented a six-point plan to Trump and former Vice President Pence that was essentially a ‘How To’ guide for throwing out official electors and blocking certification of the election. Eastman also pressured Pence to violate the Electoral Count Act to delay certification, an act which Eastman acknowledged violated federal law, though he described the illegal proposal as a “relatively minor violation.” These are among the many reasons the U.S. House committee investigating the January 6 attack deposed Eastman, where he invoked the Fifth Amendment over a hundred times and attempted to withhold thousands of emails subpoenaed by the committee. A number of these emails were between Eastman and Ginni Thomas – the wife of Justice Clarence Thomas, who Eastman clerked for.

 

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