Ex-President ’s former lawyer Rudy Giuliani reportedly in private doubted that Vice President had the authority to overturn the presidential election.
Former White House lawyer Eric Herschmann said in the third public hearing by the House Select Committee investigating the Capitol riot that Giuliani on the morning of January 6 appeared to concede that a plan to have Pence overturn the election wouldn’t work.
Giuliani seemed to break from conservative lawyer John Eastman on the vice president’s role, Herschmann said on Thursday afternoon, sharing details of the private phone call hours before the insurrection.
‘He was asking me my view and analysis and the practical implications of it. And when we finished, he said, “Look, I believe, that you know, you’re probably right,”‘ said Herschmann, claiming that Giuliani ultimately believed Pence did not have the authority to follow Trump’s wish.
However, Giuliani hours later said the opposite on stage at a Trump rally as he stood next to Eastman.
‘Every single thing that has been outlined as the plan for today is perfectly legal,’ said Giuliani in his speech on January 6. ‘I have Professor Eastman here with me to say a few words about that.’
While Giuliani and Eastman pushed for overturning the election results, Herschmann was with a group of White House lawyers who strongly opposed that effort.
Herschmann testified that Giuliani called him ‘out of the blue’ that morning to ask for his opinion on the plan to get Pence to block the election certification.
In addition, Herschmann recalled telling Eastman: ‘You’re going to turn around and tell 78-plus million people in this country that this is how you’re going to invalidate their votes? Because you think the election was stolen? You’re going to cause riots in the streets.’
The committee’s third hearing focused on Trump’s unsuccessful strides to stop Pence from certifying Joe Biden’s victory.
.
