WASHINGTON — A Republican chairman said Tuesday that the FBI should investigate former Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., over her involvement in the latest congressional investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.
“Based on the evidence obtained by this subcommittee, numerous federal laws were likely violated 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,” an interim report said has been released. by Rep. Barry Loudermilk, R-Ga., chairman of the House Administration Oversight subcommittee, which investigated the Jan. 6 select committee.
The report alleged that Republicans found evidence showing that Cheney “tampered with at least one witness, Cassidy Hutchinson, by secretly communicating with Hutchinson without the knowledge of her attorney.”
“This secret communication with a witness is inappropriate,” the report said.
In addition, the report said the FBI should investigate Cheney for allegedly violating a law that prohibits someone from persuading another person to commit perjury, something Republicans accused Hutchinson of doing in her testimony before the committee.
The report accused Cheney of helping Hutchinson find new counsel; Although the report claims they spoke directly without an attorney’s knowledge, it indicated that Republicans did not appear to know what they were discussing.
Cheney said in a statement responding to the report that Trump on January 6 showed who he really is: “a cruel and vindictive man who allowed violent attacks against our Capitol and law enforcement to continue while he watched television and refused for hours to instruct his supporters to to resign and leave.”
The 10 public hearings and the select committee’s final report featured numerous Republican witnesses, including many senior officials from the White House, campaign and Trump administration, Cheney noted in the statement. Their testimony was recorded in thousands of pages of transcripts and a “highly detailed and carefully crafted” 800-page report, which was made public and which the Justice Department also concluded in a separate investigation, she said.
Loudermilk’s interim report deliberately ignores the truth and the Select Committee’s vast body of evidence, and instead fabricates lies and defamatory accusations in an attempt to cover up what Donald Trump has done. “Their accusations do not reflect a review of the factual evidence and are a malicious and cowardly attack on the truth.”
Hutchinson’s attorney, William H. Jordan, said in a statement that allegations that Hutchinson colluded with Cheney are “ridiculous.”
“Ms. Hutchinson made the independent decision to part ways with her Trump-funded attorney, freeing her to provide candid, truthful and honorable testimony before the January 6 committee regarding the attack on the Capitol, along with dozens of Republican witnesses and law enforcement officials,” he said. “Despite baseless attacks by men with their own agendas to discredit her, Ms. Hutchinson stands by her testimony and remains committed to the truth. responsibility.”
Responding to the report, Trump said on Truth Social on Wednesday that Cheney “could be in big trouble based on the evidence obtained by the subcommittee.”
The president-elect recently suggested in an interview with NBC News’ “Meet the Press” that the members of the Jan. 6 panel should be jailed. Those former members, including the Democratic chairman, have said the committee did nothing wrong and did not break the law.
Hutchinson was considered a star witness before the Jan. 6 committee, which was formed during the last Congress under the Democratic majority in the House of Representatives and included two Republicans: Cheney, who was vice chairman, and then-Rep. Adam Kinzinger, from Illinois. Hutchinson, a close aide to White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, testified privately and publicly to the committee about her knowledge of the lead-up to January 6 and what unfolded that day.
Hutchinson testified that White House Deputy Chief of Staff Tony Ornato told her that after Trump’s “Stop the Steal” rally at the White House Ellipse, Trump had urged the Secret Service to go to the Capitol where he had encouraged his supporters to go. then. Hutchinson testified that she was told Trump cursed out his security guards after she was told they couldn’t go to the Capitol, grabbed the steering wheel of his SUV from the back seat and then reached for Bobby Engel’s “collarbones,” Trump’s collarbones . head of security, who eventually passed his story on to Ornato.
Ornato later told the committee he did not remember the conversation Hutchinson said he had with Engel.
While Republicans say there have been witnesses who have disputed Hutchinson’s account, it has also been corroborated by others.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
