Liz Cheney has been referred for criminal investigation for “potential criminal witness tampering” related to her former role on the Jan. 6 House Select Committee, a report released Tuesday by the House Administration Subcommittee on Oversight.
“Based on the evidence obtained by this Subcommittee, numerous federal laws were likely broken by Liz Cheney, the former Vice Chair of the January 6 Select Committee, and these violations should be investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation,” the report found.
“Evidence uncovered by the Subcommittee revealed that former Congresswoman Liz Cheney tampered with at least one witness, Cassidy Hutchinson, by secretly communicating with Hutchinson without Hutchinson’s attorney’s knowledge.”
Earler this year, the Subcommittee quietly released a report that found Cheney began communicating with Hutchinson both directly and through an intermediary, while Hutchinson was still a subject of the Select Committee’s investigation:
“Committee on House Administration’s Subcommittee on Oversight Chairman Barry Loudermilk (GA-11) obtained never-before-seen correspondence between January 6 Select Committee Vice-Chair Liz Cheney and Cassidy Hutchinson and in 2022, while Hutchinson was still a subject of the Select Committee’s investigation.
“In the months prior to Hutchinson’s explosive private and public testimony, Cheney communicated with Hutchinson, both directly and through an intermediary—Alyssa Farah Griffin—while Hutchinson was represented by her attorney, Stefan Passantino. The Select Committee conducted six transcribed interviews of Hutchinson in total. Passantino represented Hutchinson for the first three interviews.”
Former Trump staffer and “star” J6 witness Cassy Hutchinson
Fox reports: The Jan. 6 committee was founded in July 2021 to investigate the breach of the U.S. Capitol earlier that year by supporters of Trump ahead of President Biden officially taking office on Jan. 20. The Jan. 6 committee’s investigation was carried out when Democrats held control of the House.
The committee concluded its 18-month investigation last year, when Republicans regained control of the House and sent referrals to the Justice Department recommending Trump be criminally prosecuted for his involvement in the lead-up to supporters breaching the Capitol.
The committee was composed of seven Democrats and two Republican lawmakers, Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, both of whom are no longer in office.
House Administration Subcommittee on Oversight chairman Rep. Barry Loudermilk’s subcommittee was tapped to investigate the J6 committee and its findings in January 2023.
The House Republicans’ report Tuesday specifically took issue with Cheney’s alleged “direct intervention” with Hutchinson, who was considered the star witness of the investigation, including allegedly encouraging Hutchinson to hire “Select Committee-friendly attorneys to represent her,” as opposed to keeping her original legal representation.
Hutchinson, who worked as an aide to Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, had claimed before the select committee that on Jan. 6, 2021, she was told Trump allegedly became “irate” and attempted to join supporters at the Capitol ahead of them breaching the government building. The incident reportedly unfolded after Trump delivered a speech at the Ellipse, which is a park just south of the White House fence.
Hutchinson alleged she was told Trump attempted to grab the steering wheel of a Secret Service SUV before the driver reportedly told Trump to remove his hand and that they were headed to the White House, not the Capitol. Hutchinson’s account was directly refuted by Anthony Ornato, who served as White House deputy chief of staff for operations under Trump after decades in the Secret Service.
Less than two weeks after firing her original attorney, and hiring “the attorneys Representative Cheney suggested – Hutchinson sat for her fourth transcribed interview with the Select Committee under unusual circumstances,” the report found.
