Conservative lawyer John Eastman was told to 'get a great f-ing criminal defense lawyer': House January 6 testimony

The day after the attack on the Capitol, the conservative lawyer John Eastman went looking for someone in Donald Trump's circle to discuss an issue related to his effort to overturn the election.

The White House lawyer is Eric Herschmann. Herschmann didn't want to entertain the machinations of the man.

Herschmann told the House select committee that he shut down Eastman and advised him to look for a different lawyer.

Get a great criminal defense lawyer, I'm going to give you the best legal advice you'll ever get. A portion of Herschmann's recorded deposition was released by the House January 6 committee.

Herschmann said he hung up on him.

—January 6th Committee (@January6thCmte) June 14, 2022

Herschmann's testimony showed that even within the Trump White House and broader administration, Eastman was seen as facing potential legal jeopardy in connection with his role in developing a last-ditch strategy to overturn the election. The footage from Herschmann's interview was included in a video featuring Liz Cheney, the Republican vice chair of the House.

The House January 6 committee split over whether to refer Trump or anyone else to the Justice Department for criminal prosecution.

Bennie Thompson told reporters that a criminal referral is not the committee's job. The committee has not issued a conclusion regarding potential criminal referrals according to Cheney.

The House committee was going to hold a hearing on Trump's attempt to get the Justice Department to help overturn the election, but it was put off.

The joint session of Congress gathered to certify the 2020 results or send the election to the House was called to be adjourned after the election.

State legislatures were pushed to certify alternate slates of electors who supported Trump. None of the state legislatures followed through on the call, and Pence refused to take part in the plan.

The then-president told his supporters that "if you don't fight like hell, you're not going to have a country anymore" at the "Stop the Steal" rally. He resigned from his position as a law professor at Chapman University within weeks of that public appearance.

In January, he sued the House committee to stop them from getting his records.

In the course of that litigation, a federal judge ordered the conservative lawyer to turn over records to the House and found that it was likely that he and Trump were involved in a criminal conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election. The judge described the effort as a "coup in search of a legal theory."

The day after the Capitol attack, Herschmann said he had harsher words for Eastman. According to Herschmann, Eastman brought up an issue in Georgia.

Herschmann asked the man if he was out of his mind.

According to the former White House lawyer's recollection of the conversation, Herschmann told Eastman to say "orderly transition" from now on.

I don't want you to say anything else besides "Orderly transition." They should be repeated to me.

Herschmann said that he heard Eastman repeat those two words back to him.