House Panel Calls for FBI Probe of Cheney 'Witness Tampering'

The House GOP Jan. 6 Oversight subcommittee investigating the Democrats' Jan. 6 Select Committee issued a preliminary report Tuesday that concludes former Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., engaged in criminally liable "witness tampering" and called for an FBI investigation.

"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," Rep. Barry Loudermilk, R-Ga., concluded on page 117 of his 127-page report. "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.

"This secret communication with a witness is improper and likely violates 18 U.S.C. 1512. Such action is outside the due functioning of the legislative process and therefore not protected by the Speech and Debate clause."

Loudermilk's report noted Cheney herself had threatened "individuals who endeavored to influence witness testimony," but called her own efforts a "twist of irony."

"At the end of the Select Committee hearing in which Hutchinson testified, Representative Cheney stated, 'let me say one more time, we will take any effort to influence witness testimony very seriously,'" page 25 of the report read. "In an interview with ABC News the following day, Representative Cheney reportedly stated that the Select Committee 'may make a criminal referral to the Justice Department, recommending that anybody attempting to influence witness testimony before the [Select] Committee be prosecuted for witness tampering.'

"Whether lacking in self-awareness or to obfuscate her own furtive behavior, it is consistent with the Select Committee's practice of lodging accusations against President [Donald] Trump and those associated with him as if those accusations are fact, when the Select Committee itself was engaged in the very behavior it had accused of President Trump."

Loudermilk said he found evidence Cheney might have destroyed evidence or potentially covered up for allegations of witness tampering, too.

"Far from passively observing, Representative Cheney took an active role in securing Select Committee-friendly attorneys to represent Hutchinson," he wrote on page 24. '"The next day, she [Representative Cheney] called and provided me [Hutchinson] with contact information for multiple attorneys at various firms.'

"In addition, the Signal messages recovered by Chairman Loudermilk demonstrate that Representative Cheney and Hutchinson spoke directly with one another several days before Hutchinson ultimately terminated her attorney.

"What other information was communicated during these phone calls may never be known, but what is known is that Representative Cheney consciously attempted to minimize her contact with Hutchinson in her book, and the most likely reason to try to bury that information would be if Representative Cheney knew that it was improper and unethical to communicate with Hutchinson without her counsel present."

An FBI investigation of Cheney is one of the measures Loudermilk said he hopes can restore public trust in Congress and the Justice Department.

"The American people deserve a government they can trust and be proud of," he concluded in his introduction. "Unfortunately, the failures, coverups and false accusations in the aftermath of January 6 have only increased the people's distrust of Washington, D.C.

"I hope the work of this subcommittee will help restore a level of hope in our government; but, until we hold accountable those responsible, and reform our institutions, we will not fully regain trust.

"Americans expect and deserve a government that is small in size, limited in scope, and fully accountable to the people, as our Founders intended.

"The actions of some elected officials and certain government bureaucrats in the aftermath of January 6, 2021, are evidence of how we have ventured far away from those basic principles of our constitutional republic. Transparency, accountability, and equal application of the law are the only solutions to return our nation to one that is free, safe and full of opportunity. I sincerely pray that this report is just the beginning of an era of restoring our federal government to the basic principles of transparency and accountability."