John Eastman, a lawyer advising former President Trump on a plan to cancel the 2020 election, has called for clemency in the days following last year’s attack on the Capitol, a House of Representatives committee investigating the January 6, 2021 uprising said on Thursday.
“I have decided that I should be on the pardon list if this is still being done,” Eastman said in an email to Rudy Giuliani, quoted during the commission’s third public hearing on Thursday.
Trump’s legal adviser received much of the committee’s attention during the hearing, which included testimony from White House officials and aides to former Vice President Mike Pence.
Eastman sought to provide a legal justification for Pence’s pressure to prevent Congress from certifying the results of the 2020 presidential election, although he privately acknowledged that such a plan would be rejected by the courts.
Eric Hershman, a lawyer with Trump’s White House, said in recorded testimony shown Thursday that Eastman had called him the day after the Capitol attack to discuss a legal issue related to the Georgia election challenge.
Hershman said he told Eastman, “I just want to hear two words that come out of your mouth from now on: an orderly transition.”
“Now I’m going to give you the best free legal advice you’ve ever received in your life: Get a great criminal defense attorney. You will need it. ”
According to the elected committee, Eastman sent the request for clemency to Giuliani only days later.
A lawyer representing Eastman did not respond immediately when asked for comment.
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A federal judge ordered Eastman to hand over a number of documents to the selected committee after the lawyer filed a lawsuit to challenge a subpoena from Congress.
Judge David O. Carter sided with the commission in March, ruling that Eastman and Trump may have been involved in a criminal effort to cancel the election, a finding that helped undermine the lawyer’s claim to the privilege of a lawyer and client.
“The illegality of the plan was obvious,” Carter wrote at the time. “Our nation is based on a peaceful transition of power, embodied by George Washington, who laid down his sword to pave the way for democratic elections. Ignoring this story, President Trump is vigorously campaigning for the vice president to determine the outcome of the 2020 election.
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