Former Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., pushed back Tuesday against the House GOP Jan. 6 Oversight subcommittee, calling its recommendation that she be criminally investigated for "witness tampering" a "cowardly assault on the truth."
Rep. Barry Loudermilk, R-Ga., chair of the House Administration's Oversight Subcommittee, released a 127-page report earlier on Tuesday alleging that Cheney "colluded with 'star witness' Cassidy Hutchinson." Hutchinson, a former aide to Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, publicly testified before the House Jan. 6 Select Committee, which had been co-chaired by Cheney.
"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," Loudermilk said on page 117. "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," Loudermilk wrote. "Such action is outside the due functioning of the legislative process and therefore not protected by the Speech and Debate clause."
In comments reported by Mediaite, the former Wyoming congresswoman said Loudermilk's report "intentionally disregards the truth and the Select Committee's tremendous weight of evidence, and instead fabricates lies and defamatory allegations in an attempt to cover up what Donald Trump did.
"Their allegations do not reflect a review of the actual evidence, and are a malicious and cowardly assault on the truth," Cheney said. "No reputable lawyer, legislator, or judge would take this seriously."
The events of Jan. 6, 2021, "showed Donald Trump for who [he] really is," Cheney said, calling the president-elect "a cruel and vindictive man who allowed violent attacks to continue against our Capitol and law enforcement officers while he watched television and refused for hours to instruct his supporters to stand down and leave."
Cheney also claimed that the hearings and report from the Jan. 6 panel she co-chaired "featured scores of Republican witnesses, including many of the most senior officials from Trump's own White House, campaign and Administration."
"All of this testimony was painstakingly set out in thousands of pages of transcripts, made public along with a highly detailed and meticulously sourced 800-page report," she said.
Rep. Keith Self, R-Texas, told Newsmax on Monday that members of the Jan. 6 panel should "absolutely" go to jail if they committed crimes.
"They should not get off scot-free, and absolutely, they should go to jail," Self said on "The Chris Salcedo Show."
Nicole Weatherholtz ✉
Nicole Weatherholtz, a Newsmax general assignment reporter covers news, politics, and culture. She is a National Newspaper Association award-winning journalist.
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