Donald Trump wants lawyer John Eastman who slammed Mike Pence as 'not deserving to be in office' at MAGA rally before Capitol riots for his impeachment defense team

Donald Trump is looking to bring on John Eastman to his impeachment defense team after the lawyer riled up the crowd at last week's rally ahead of them storming the Capitol – and where he blasted Mike Pence as undeserving to continue in his post as vice president.

Two people familiar with the matter revealed Wednesday the plans for Trump to hire Eastman after the House voted on an article of impeachment against the president for 'inciting of insurrection'.

Asked whether he would be willing, Eastman said: 'If the President of the United States asked me to consider helping him, I would certainly give it consideration.'

He would not, however, definitively confirm nor deny whether he will represent Trump, citing attorney-client privilege.

Donald Trump is considering bringing on lawyer John Eastman to his impeachment defense team after he helped rile up a crowd at last week's rally before thousands stormed the Capitol 

Until Wednesday, Eastman was a professor at Chapman University in California.

Eastman, 60, joined Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, 76, on stage at the January 6 rally before the president emerged to speak to his supporters.

'We no longer live in a self-governing republic,' Eastman told the pumped up crowd of thousands of Trump supporters gathered on the Ellipse last week.

'This is bigger than President Trump,' he said in reference to investigation into voter fraud, adding that 'anybody that is not willing to stand up to do it does not deserve to be in the office, it is that simple.'

He was likely referencing Pence, who hours later would preside over Congress certifying the election for Joe Biden following the riot at the Capitol that left five dead.

Following his appearance and remarks at the rally, faculty members and students, among others, called for Chapman to fire Eastman.

In a statement on Wednesday, the university president said an agreement had been reached under which Eastman would immediately retire from the university.

Eastman told Reuters he did not believe he did anything wrong and also does not think Trump has culpability, either.

'None, whatsoever,' he said.

The attorney also came under fire last summer after penning an op-ed published in Newsweek where he questioned whether Vice President-elect Kamala Harris was eligible to serve.

He suggested that because the California senator's parents were not U.S. citizens or permanent residents, she may not be able to become vice president to Joe Biden.

Newsweek later apologized for publishing the piece. 

Giuliani told the crowd last Wednesday during his remarks that they should engage in 'trial by combat'.

Although it was reported Sunday that Giuliani could lead the impeachment defense team, details remain up in the air – especially after it was revealed that Trump is refusing to pay him.

According to The Washington Post, Trump has ordered aides not to pay the $20,000 per-day legal fees of his personal attorney as mounting legal threats and isolation close in on the president from all sides.

Two officials familiar with the matter claim Trump has expressed disappointment with some of Giuliani's legal moves in challenging the election results and doesn't appreciate the costly fees despite failed efforts.

They also claim the president is demanding to personally approve all expenses incurred by Giuliani in his multi-state legal campaign to prove election fraud.

Giuliani has not yet responded to a request for comment.

Eastman also made unsubstantiated claims of election fraud at the rally.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Eastman and has declined to comment on Giuliani.

The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday made Trump the first U.S. president to be impeached twice, charging him with inciting an insurrection as lawmakers sought to certify President-elect Joe Biden's victory in the Nov. 3 election.

A former clerk to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, Eastman represented Trump last month in unsuccessful challenges to the election.

At the rally, Eastman spoke about 'secret folders' of ballots used to defraud the election before Trump took the stage and repeated the discredited claim that the election was stolen from him. 

Trump may have a tough time retaining legal talent. He has had trouble hiring lawyers since former Special Counsel Robert Mueller´s probe of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, and the widespread condemnation of the violence at the Capitol and pressure from anti-Trump groups may discourage others from signing up.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is shown signing on Wednesday evening the article of impeachment against Trump for 'inciting of insurrection' after the lower chamber voted 232-197 for a second impeachment against the president

Trump was impeached by the Democratic-led House in 2019 on charges that he pressured Ukraine's president to announce an investigation of his rival Biden, but was acquitted by the Republican-led Senate in February 2020.

Giuliani´s own pressure on Ukraine helped lead to Trump´s impeachment trial.

White House counsel Pat Cipollone, who helped lead the defense effort during the impeachment over Ukraine, is not expected to participate in the latest effort, according to one person familiar with the matter. Cipollone will leave his post on Jan. 20, when Biden becomes president.

Jay Sekulow, another personal lawyer for Trump who played a role during the first impeachment, also is not expected to be involved.

John Yoo, a conservative legal scholar who also clerked for Thomas and worked in the Department of Justice during the George W. Bush administration, said on Wednesday he did not think Trump would want him to represent him.

'I think he committed impeachable acts,' said Yoo, although he added that he thought incitement was the wrong grounds and 'the Senate should not convict him.'