GOP lawmakers are urging the FBI to investigate former Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney for "potential criminal witness tampering" during a congressional investigation, Fox News reported. Cheney was part of the Jan. 6 House Select Committee, which was formed in 2021 to investigate the breach at the Capitol.
The committee was part of Democrats' attempt to turn the unrest into an excuse to keep President-elect Donald Trump out of the White House. During the politically-motivated investigation, Cheney may not have been acting above board.
Rep. Barry Loudermilk is determined to hold her accountable. "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," said a report from the House Administration Subcommittee on Oversight chair.
"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," the report added. Hutchinson was the committee's "star witness."
According to the report, Cheney had "direct intervention" with Hutchinson, including her choice to replace legal representation with "Committee-friendly attorneys to represent her." This was after Hutchinson, an aide to then-chief of staff Mark Meadows, had already testified.
She told the committee that Trump was "irate" and demanded to join the protesters at the Capitol after delivering his speech near the White House. Hutchinson was responsible for spinning the most insane narrative of all about Trump's behavior that day.
According to Hutchinson, Trump wrestled with the Secret Service and attempted to grab the steering wheel of the SUV he was riding in so he could go to the Capitol. This purportedly happened after they insisted on returning Trump to the White House.
Of course, this insane account was refuted by White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations Anthony Ornato. Still, that wouldn't be the last time the committee would hear from Hutchinson.
Once Hutchinson switched legal representation, she "sat for her fourth transcribed interview with the Select Committee under unusual circumstances," the report said. Hutchison was interviewed in Cheney's office with just her new attorney, Cheney, and a Select Committee attorney rather than the "approximately a dozen people" in a conference room as other witnesses were.
Hutchinson's special treatment and elevation to become a key witness to the exclusion of others shaped the investigation. Laudermilk's report noted that "it is unlikely the Select Committee could make its assertions about President Trump’s mood, attitude, and alleged culpability in the events of January 6" without Hutchinson's remarks.
"Hutchinson is mentioned by name in the Select Committee’s Final Report no fewer than 185 times. Inexplicably, the Select Committee discredited the multitude of legitimate witnesses who, under oath, repeatedly refuted Hutchinson’s testimony," the House GOP went on.
"These legitimate witnesses include senior government officials and federal agents." The report also noted that, as Trump asserted, the committee didn't archive "as many as 900 interview summaries or transcripts.
"Cheney did something that’s inexcusable, along with [Rep. Bennie] Thompson and the people on the un-select committee of political thugs and, you know, creeps. They deleted and destroyed all evidence," Trump said in an interview. "And Cheney was behind it."
The investigation began in bad faith and bore bad fruits. The voters of Wyoming rightly threw Cheney out of office already, and this report only makes her look that much worse.
