{"id":46288,"date":"2021-11-23T22:33:07","date_gmt":"2021-11-23T22:33:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/uncategorized\/2021\/11\/23\/70-west-point-graduates-call-on-alaska-lawmaker-to-resign\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T02:26:17","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T02:26:17","slug":"70-west-point-graduates-call-on-alaska-lawmaker-to-resign","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/2021\/11\/23\/70-west-point-graduates-call-on-alaska-lawmaker-to-resign\/","title":{"rendered":"70 West Point graduates call on Alaska lawmaker to resign"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

ANCHORAGE, Alaska \u2014 Dozens of West Point graduates have demanded state Rep. David Eastman resign from office over his ties to a right-wing extremist group, saying his affiliation has betrayed the values of the U.S. Military Academy he attended.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A letter signed by 69 fellow West Point graduates was published in the Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman<\/a> and called on Eastman to resign after his membership in the Oath Keepers<\/a> became public, with another name added after publication. Eastman had previously confirmed to the Anchorage Daily News that he became a member of the organization shortly after it formed more than a decade ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe give it as our fixed opinion that, as a serving member of the Alaska State Legislature who has repeatedly emphasized your status as a veteran and a graduate, you have discredited yourself and betrayed the values of West Point,\u201d the letter said. \u201cWe call on you to do the honorable thing and resign from office.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ivan Hodes, a West Point graduate living in Anchorage, authored the letter. He served in the same military police battalion at Fort Richardson in Anchorage as Eastman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI thought that the decent thing to do would be to offer an opportunity for resignation,\u201d Hodes told the Anchorage Daily News.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hodes said he reached out to other West Point graduates because he was concerned Eastman, a Republican from Wasilla, was violating his duties as a legislator.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s serving two masters,\u201d Hodes said. \u201cYou can\u2019t be loyal to the U.S. government and the government of Alaska and at the same time belong to this militia.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Several members of Oath Keepers have been charged<\/a> with crimes connected to the insurrection at the Capitol on Jan. 6. Eastman said he went to Washington that day to object to the Electoral College votes of several states confirming President Joe Biden\u2019s election but didn\u2019t participate in the demonstrations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hodes said he views the group and Eastman\u2019s insistence that the current federal government is illegitimate as directly clashing with his responsibilities to uphold state and federal laws.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s OK for him to be an Oath Keeper as a private citizen,\u201d Hodes said. \u201cDavid Eastman has a duty here: he can choose to choose Oath Keepers or he can choose state government.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI find it a very good thing that as Americans we have the right to choose our own elected representatives, rather than those outside Alaska and outside the Mat-Su choosing our elected representatives for us based on their values and what passes for journalism in some parts of the country,\u201d Eastman said in a email to The Associated Press on Tuesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe can be sure of one thing today: If we do not raise our voices in support of the Constitution and the values that we hold dear, someone else will gladly speak for us on behalf of whatever values are dear to them,\u201d Eastman said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eastman took office in 2017 and at times alienated himself from fellow Republicans in the state House over sometimes divisive statements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He was disinvited from events sponsored by the West Point Society of Alaska after he drew a comparison between Biden and Adolph Hitler in September, and posted a link on social media leading to a Holocaust denial site, the Daily News reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\t