The House select committee investigating the Capitol riots previewed its upcoming hearing on Thursday by playing videotaped testimony from Eric Herschmann, an ex-senior advisor to former US President Donald Trump who said voter fraud claims in the 2020 election were bogus.

It is reported that Herschmann, in a clip, spoke candidly about a confrontation he had with conservative lawyer John Eastman a day after the riot. Eastman, who amplified 2020 election conspiracy theories, was still keen on pursuing efforts to overturn the results in Georgia.

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Addressing the january 6 panel, Herschmann said, “I said to him, ‘Are you out of your effing mind? I only want to hear two words coming out of your mouth for now on: Orderly transition.'”

After Herschmann repeatedly instructed Eastman to say those two words, he eventually did.

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“‘Now I’m going to give you the best free legal advice you’re ever getting in your life,'” Herschmann continued, according to his testimony. “Get a great effing criminal defence lawyer. You’re going to need it.’ And then I hung up on him.”

These remarks made national headlines as Herschmann shaped up to be a prominent figure in the January 6 hearings. The former Trump White House lawyer has emerged as one of several top aides who warned Trump and his allies after the election that there was no proof the race was rigged and stolen, and their efforts may be illegal.

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Days before the January 6 riot, Herschmann attended another White House meeting, in which he and other Trump lawyers sought to convince the president not to replace acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen with the-Department of Justice official Jeffrey Clark, who had supported false election claims.

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In August 2020, Herschmann 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. 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.