Republicans on Tuesday released a report summarizing the “failures and politicization” of the now-disbanded House Jan. 6 Committee and recommending a criminal investigation into former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.). The investigation was concluded.
of128 page interim reportDefending many of the claims that have been floated by Republicans since the commission was formed, he complained on January 6 that the task force was improperly constituted and unfairly placed responsibility on President-elect Trump.
“speaker [Nancy] Pelosi's multimillion-dollar task force is a political weapon with a singular focus on duping the public into blaming President Trump for the January 6 riot and tarnishing the legacy of our first president. ”, the report states.
The report's conclusions also call for an FBI investigation into Cheney, accusing her of witness tampering by communicating with former White House aide and star witness Cassidy Hutchinson.
It's an argument that would likely face significant obstacles if pursued, but it's still the case that President Trump suggested on January 6 that members of the commission should “go to jail” for their work. It came out of what I was doing.
This proposal and the committee's report were generally condemned by Cheney.
“January 6th showed Donald Trump for who he really is. He continues to condone violent attacks on the Capitol and law enforcement officers while watching television, and tells his supporters to get up and leave.” He was a cruel, vindictive man who refused his time,” Cheney said. He said in a statement, referring to numerous Republican witnesses who testified before the committee.
“chairman [Barry] Loudermilk (R-Ga.)'s “interim report” intentionally ignored the truth and the task force's vast evidence and instead made lies and defamatory claims aimed at covering up Donald Trump's conduct. It's fabricated. Their claims do not reflect consideration of actual evidence and are malicious and despicable attacks on the truth. No reputable lawyer, legislator, or judge would take this seriously. ”
At the heart of the report's allegations are Mr. Cheney's contacts with Mr. Hutchinson. Mr. Hutchinson was previously represented by another attorney, but he later changed representation and ultimately agreed to testify before the panel at a larger hearing.
Mr. Hutchinson's first lawyer, Stephen Passantino, is accused of encouraging Mr. Hutchinson that he remembered little of that day and that he would be able to get a good job in Trump World.
The interim report shows text messages between Mr. Hutchinson and another former White House aide, Alyssa Farrah Griffin, which revealed that Farrah Griffin was behind the back channels between the two women. He is accused of playing a role.
Mr. Hutchinson then contacted Mr. Cheney, who wrote in his book, “All witnesses should hire a lawyer to exclusively represent their interests.'' '', he wrote, advising his close aides to find a lawyer.
Such an investigation into Cheney would raise a number of other legal issues.
Cheney is likely to argue that any actions she takes through her committee work are protected by the Speech and Debate Clause, which protects members of Congress from lawsuits related to their work.
Witness tampering can also prove a difficult road in court, as it typically involves charges of encouraging a witness to lie or change their story. Mr. Hutchinson originally brought this claim against Mr. Passantino.
The report similarly suggests that some aspects of Mr. Hutchinson's testimony are inaccurate, while others who claim to have seen Mr. Trump lunge toward the driver It includes her reporting what she heard, but it does not make any recommendations regarding her.
“It would be unusual and potentially unethical for a lawmaker conducting an investigation to contact a witness if he or she knows the person is represented by an attorney,” the interim report said. states.
Loudermilk, chairman of the subcommittee that compiled the report, had come under scrutiny from a disbanded House committee after he gave a tour of the Capitol to two men who later joined the march to the Capitol on January 6, 2021. .
He also accused the panel of deleting evidence it had collected, but panel members disputed this by saying they had retained all of the evidence they were legally required to collect, which was then published on government websites. Ta.
“The committee's hearing and report on January 6th was attended by numerous Republican witnesses, including many of President Trump's own White House, campaign, and administration officials,” Cheney said.
“All of this testimony was painstakingly compiled into thousands of pages of records and released with an 800-page report that was extremely detailed and meticulously sourced.”
Loudermilk told The Hill last week that he expects leadership to create a new select committee to assess security at the Capitol in the next Congress.
“I'm not confident that we're any safer now than we were then,” he said.
Contributed by Emily Brooks.
