Liz Cheney Previews Next January 6th Hearing With A Focus On How Donald Trump Put Pressure On Mike Pence

Ted Johnson
·2 min read
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Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) previewed the next January 6th Committee hearing, saying in a Twitter post that it would focus on Donald Trump’s “relentless effort” to pressure Mike Pence to reject the electoral vote count that showed Joe Biden as the victor.

Cheney hinted that the hearing, scheduled to start on Thursday at 1 PM ET, would delve into whether Trump’s pressure violated federal law.

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“As a federal judge has indicated, this likely violated two federal criminal statutes,” Cheney said. “President Trump had no factual basis for what he was doing and he had been told it was illegal. Despite this, President Trump plotted with a lawyer named John Eastman and others to overturn the outcome of the election on January 6th.”

Cheney then introduced a clip of testimony from Eric Herschmann, one of Trump’s White House lawyers. In the aftermath of the attack on the Capitol, Hershmann said that he told Eastman, “I only want to hear two words coming out of your mouth from now on: ‘Orderly transition.'”

“I said, ‘I don’t want to hear any other f-ing words coming out of your mouth, no matter what, other than orderly transition. Repeat those words to me.'”

Hershmann said that Eastman did.

“I said, ‘Good, John. Now I am going to give you the best free legal advice you’re ever getting in your life: Get a great f-ing criminal defense lawyer. You’re going to need it,” Hershmann said in his testimony. Part of Herschmann’s testimony also was played toward the end of Monday’s hearing.

A hearing for Wednesday was postponed, in what a committee member, Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) said was to give staffers more time to prepare.

Last week’s primetime hearing drew an estimated 20 million viewers, according to Nielsen. Complete viewership is not yet available for Monday’s morning hearing, which was carried across broadcast and cable networks. According to preliminary data from Nielsen and released by Fox News, about 10 million viewed on Fox News, CNN, MSNBC, ABC, CBS, NewsNation and Newsmax. The figures do not include NBC News.

 

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