Eric Herschmann | |
---|---|
Senior Advisor to the President | |
In office August 3, 2020 –January 20, 2021 Servingwith Jared Kushner, Stephen Miller | |
President | Donald Trump |
Preceded by | Kevin Hassett Jared Kushner Stephen Miller |
Succeeded by | Mike Donilon Anita Dunn Cedric Richmond |
Personal details | |
Born | New York City,New York,U.S. | May 7,1962
Political party | Republican |
Spouse(s) | Debora Weisblum (divorced) Orly Genger (2016–present) |
Children | 3 |
Education | University of Miami (BA) Yeshiva University (JD) |
Eric Herschmann (born May 7,1962) is an American political advisor and attorney who served as a senior advisor to former President Donald Trump. [1] [2]
Herschmann served as a partner at Kasowitz Benson Torres from 1996 [3] until 2020 [1] when he left the firm to accept an appointment in the White House. [3]
During his time at the firm,he was associated with Southern Union Company,serving as counsel and in various executive positions for the company from 1997 until 2012. He also represented Citibank's corporate audit department. Previous to his work at Kasowitz Benson Torres,Herschmann was an Assistant District Attorney in the Manhattan's DA's Office. [1]
Herschmann served as one of President Trump's attorneys during his first impeachment trial in 2019 and 2020,giving several presentations in the U.S. Senate chamber. [4] [5]
In August 2020,he left his firm to join the White House with the title Senior Advisor to the President,with a portfolio described as "hazy" by The New York Times . [6] While at the White House,Herschmann was involved in the Hunter Biden laptop controversy,providing a reporter from The Wall Street Journal with emails allegedly from Hunter Biden's laptop. [6]
Towards the end of Trump's term,Herschmann was involved in high-level meetings about possible investigations into voter fraud in the 2020 elections. [7] After his White House tenure ended,Axios reported on one such meeting Herschmann attended in the Oval Office. [8] "Do you even know who the fuck I am,you idiot," he is reported to have asked former Overstock.com CEO Patrick M. Byrne,who was in the meeting suggesting election conspiracy theories to the president,only to have Byrne mis-identify Herschmann as White House Counsel Pat Cipollone. [8] According to the account,Byrne suggested using "guys with big guns and badges" to seize voting machines and Herschmann responded,"What are you,three years old?" With respect to Trump election lawyer Sidney Powell's self-described "release the Kraken" [9] strategy to overturn the election,Herschmann reportedly asked her rhetorically,"Are you out of your fucking mind?" [8]
Despite having a low profile during his time as a White House advisor,Herschmann gained greater notoriety from the June 23,2022,fifth, [10] January 6 committee public hearing which featured a video replay of his June 13,2022,testimony. [11]
Herschmann described events leading up to the January 6 attack on the Capitol to the committee in testimony with blunt and colorful terms.
"What they were proposing,I thought,was nuts," Herschmann said of the claims of voter fraud pushed by some of Trump's attorneys. [12] "Are you out of your effing mind? You're completely crazy," Herschmann claims he said to Trump attorney John Eastman about the so-called Eastman memos. [13]
"Get a great f'ing criminal defense lawyer. You're going to need it," Herschmann testified he told Eastman on the phone of Eastman's plan to overturn the 2020 election results,"and then I hung up on him." [14] Eastman was later charged with multiple felonies for his conduct.
Herschmann testified that he told Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey Clark "good,effing A-hole,congratulations. You just admitted your first step or act you take as attorney general would be committing a felony," after learning of his plan to be installed as acting Attorney General and send out a letter to state officials with false accusations of voter fraud. [15] Clark was later charged with multiple felonies in Georgia over this letter.
Political reporters commented on the three works of art,on the wall behind Herschmann,during his virtual testimony before the congressional committee,including a baseball bat with the word "justice" [16] printed on it,by Sebastian ErraZuriz,three chrome-colored sculptures by Tal Frank, [17] and a painting by Rob Pruitt,that resembled an artwork featured in the erotic film Fifty Shades of Grey. [18] [19] [20]
After the testimony of Cassidy Hutchinson before the January 6 Committee,a spokesman for Herschmann claimed without evidence "that a handwritten note regarding a potential statement for then-President Donald Trump to release during the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol was written by him during a meeting at the White House that afternoon,and not by White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson." [21]
On September 19,2022, The New York Times reported that in late 2021,Herschmann had attempted to warn President Trump of his legal exposure for possible mishandling of classified documents. [22] Trump would later be arrested for the issue.
Jonathan Turley is an American attorney,legal scholar,writer,commentator,and legal analyst in broadcast and print journalism. A professor at George Washington University Law School,he has testified in United States congressional proceedings about constitutional and statutory issues. He has also testified in multiple impeachment hearings and removal trials in Congress,including the impeachment of President Bill Clinton and both the first and second impeachments of President Donald Trump. Turley is a First Amendment advocate and writes frequently on free speech restrictions in the private and public sectors.
John Charles Eastman is an American lawyer and academic. Due to his efforts to overturn the 2020 United States presidential election,attempting to keep then-president Donald Trump in office and obstruct the certification of Joe Biden's victory,he has been criminally indicted,ordered inactive by the State Bar of California,and recommended for disbarment. Eastman has lost eligibility to practice law in California state courts,pending his appeal of the state bar judge's ruling that recommended him for disbarment. Eastman is also a co-conspirator in the federal indictment brought against Trump over his attempts to subvert the 2020 election results and prevent the certification of Biden's election.
Pasquale Anthony "Pat" Cipollone is an American attorney who served as White House Counsel for President Donald Trump. While in office he defended Trump in his first impeachment trial. He objected to Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election,and played a key role in the January 6 committee hearings,specifically the committee's sixth hearing.
This is a timeline of events in the first half of 2019 related to investigations into the many suspicious links between Trump associates and Russian officials and spies relating to the Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections. It follows the timeline of Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections,both before and after July 2016,until November 8,2016,the transition,the first and second halves of 2017,the first and second halves of 2018,and followed by the second half of 2019,2020,and 2021.
The inquiry process which preceded the first impeachment of Donald Trump,45th president of the United States,was initiated by then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on September 24,2019,after a whistleblower alleged that Donald Trump may have abused the power of the presidency. Trump was accused of withholding military aid as a means of pressuring newly elected president of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky to pursue investigations of Joe Biden and his son Hunter and to investigate a conspiracy theory that Ukraine,not Russia,was behind interference in the 2016 presidential election. More than a week after Trump had put a hold on the previously approved aid,he made these requests in a July 25 phone call with the Ukrainian president,which the whistleblower said was intended to help Trump's reelection bid.
The first impeachment of President Donald Trump occurred on December 18,2019. On that date,the House of Representatives adopted two articles of impeachment against Trump:abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. On February 5,2020,the Senate voted to acquit Trump on both articles of impeachment.
After Democratic nominee Joe Biden won the 2020 United States presidential election,Republican nominee and then-incumbent president Donald Trump pursued an unprecedented effort to overturn the election,with support and assistance from his campaign,proxies,political allies,and many of his supporters. These efforts culminated in the January 6 Capitol attack by Trump supporters,which was widely described as an attempted coup d'état. One week later,Trump was impeached for incitement of insurrection but was acquitted by the Senate by a vote of 57–43 in favour of conviction,10 votes short of the 67 votes required to convict him.
On January 2,2021,during an hour-long conference call,then-U.S. President Donald Trump pressured Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to change the state's election results from the 2020 presidential election. Trump had been defeated by Joe Biden in the election,but refused to accept the outcome,and made a months-long effort to overturn the results. Prior to the call to Raffensperger,Trump and his campaign spoke repeatedly to state and local officials in at least three states in which he had lost,urging them to recount votes,throw out some ballots,or replace the Democratic slate of electors with a Republican slate. Trump's call with Raffensperger was reported by The Washington Post and other media outlets the day after it took place.
The following article is a broad timeline of the course of events surrounding the attack on the United States Capitol on January 6,2021,by rioters supporting United States President Donald Trump's attempts to overturn his defeat in the 2020 presidential election. Pro-Trump rioters stormed the United States Capitol after assembling on the Ellipse of the Capitol complex for a rally headlined as the "Save America March".
The second impeachment trial of Donald Trump,the 45th president of the United States,began on February 9,2021,and concluded with his acquittal on February 13. Donald Trump had been impeached for the second time by the House of Representatives on January 13,2021. The House adopted one article of impeachment against Trump:incitement of insurrection. He is the only U.S. president and only federal official to be impeached twice. He was impeached by the House seven days prior to the expiration of his term and the inauguration of Joe Biden. Because he left office before the trial,this was the first impeachment trial of a former president. The article of impeachment addressed Trump's attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results and stated that Trump incited the attack on the Capitol in Washington,D.C.,while Congress was convened to count the electoral votes and certify the victory of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.
The United States House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol was a select committee of the U.S. House of Representatives established to investigate the U.S. Capitol attack.
This is a timeline of major events in second half of 2019 related to the investigations into the myriad links between Trump associates and Russian officials and spies that are suspected of being inappropriate,relating to the Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections. It follows the timeline of Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections before and after July 2016 up until election day November 8,and the transition,the first and second halves of 2017,the first and second halves of 2018,and the first half of 2019,but precedes that of 2020 and 2021.
The Eastman memos,also known as the "coup memo",are documents by John Eastman,an American law professor retained by then-President Donald Trump advancing the fringe legal theory that a U.S. Vice President has unilateral authority to reject certified state electors. This would have the effect of nullifying an election in order to produce an outcome personally desired by the Vice President,such as a result in the Vice President's own party's favor,including retaining himself as Vice President,or if the Vice President is himself the presidential candidate,then to unilaterally make himself president.
Cassidy Jacqueline Hutchinson is a former White House aide who served as assistant to Chief of Staff Mark Meadows during the Trump administration.
Two related investigations by New York State and City officials were opened by 2020 to determine whether the Trump Organization has committed financial fraud. One of these is a criminal case being conducted by the Manhattan district attorney (DA) and the other is a civil case being conducted by the New York State Attorney General (AG). The DA's case has led to two of the organization's subsidiary companies being found guilty of 17 charges including tax fraud and the indictment of Donald Trump,while the AG has succeeded in imposing an independent monitor to prevent future fraud by the organization.
Gregory Jacob is an American lawyer who was legal counsel to U.S. Vice President Mike Pence during the administration of Donald Trump. He is currently a partner in the Washington office of the law firm,O'Melveny &Myers,specializing in ERISA matters.
After the results of the 2020 United States presidential election determined U.S. president Donald Trump had lost,a scheme was devised by him,his associates and Republican Party officials in seven states to subvert the election by creating and submitting fraudulent certificates of ascertainment to falsely claim Trump had won the electoral college vote in those states. The intent of the scheme was to pass the fraudulent certificates to then-vice president Mike Pence in the hope he would count them,rather than the authentic certificates,and thus overturn Joe Biden's victory. This scheme was defended by a fringe legal theory developed by Trump attorneys Kenneth Chesebro and John Eastman,detailed in the Eastman memos,which claimed a vice president has the constitutional discretion to swap official electors with an alternate slate during the certification process,thus changing the outcome of the electoral college vote and the overall winner of the presidential race. The scheme came to be known as the Pence Card. By June 2024,dozens of Republican state officials and Trump associates had been indicted in four states for their alleged involvement. The federal Smith special counsel investigation is investigating Trump's role in the events. Testimony has revealed that Trump was fully aware of the fake electors scheme,and knew that Eastman's plan for Pence to obstruct the certification of electoral votes was a violation of the Electoral Count Act.
The United States Justice Department investigation into attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election began in early 2021 with investigations and prosecutions of hundreds of individuals who participated in the January 6,2021 attack on the United States Capitol. By early 2022,the investigation had expanded to examine Donald Trump's inner circle,with the Justice Department impaneling several federal grand juries to investigate the attempts to overturn the election. Later in 2022,a special counsel was appointed. On August 1,2023,Trump was indicted. The indictment also describes six alleged co-conspirators.
An ongoing special counsel investigation was opened by U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland on November 18,2022,to continue two investigations initiated by the Justice Department (DOJ) regarding former U.S. President Donald Trump. Garland appointed Jack Smith,a longtime federal prosecutor,to lead the independent investigations. Smith was tasked with investigating Trump's role in the January 6 United States Capitol attack and Trump's mishandling of government records,including classified documents.