Former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) communicated with the House January 6th Select Committee’s key witness without the attorney’s knowledge, according to documents obtained by House Republicans.
House Administration Subcommittee on Oversight Chairman Barry Loudermilk (R-GA) obtained the communications between Cheney and Cassidy Hutchinson, finding that Cheney “apparently defied her ethical responsibilities,” a press release from the House Administration Committee says.
Former White House director of strategic communications and assistant to former President Donald Trump Alyssa Farah Griffin agreed to contact Cheney on Hutchinson’s behalf in order to schedule another interview. This interview would involve allegations that Trump agreed with crowds chanting “Hang Mike Pence.”
Cheney also agreed to communicate with Hutchinson through Farah Griffin.
The texts appeared to have been sent through the encrypted messaging app “Signal.” According to the press release, “it appears that Cheney knew communicating with Hutchinson while Hutchinson was represented by an attorney and a subject of the Select Committee’s investigation, without going through Hutchinson’s attorney, would be unethical.” This conclusion was drawn from one of Farah Griffin’s texts to Hutchinson, which described Cheney being concerned that “she can’t really ethically talk to you” without Hutchinson’s attorney.
Farah Griffin acted as an intermediary for nearly a month. During this time, she helped coordinate a third interview with Hutchinson without her lawyer, Stefan Passantino’s, knowledge.
“Hutchinson and Farah Griffin also colluded to create a false story about why Hutchinson needed to do a third transcribed interview for the Select Committee to feed to Passantino,” the press release adds. “Presumably this was done at Cheney’s direction because it was Cheney herself who led the third transcribed interview with Hutchinson.”
Following the third transcribed interview, Hutchinson messaged Cheney directly.
Shortly after she began her communication with Cheney, Hutchinson fired Passantino and hired attorneys recommended by Cheney. Several weeks after this change, Cheney “brought Hutchinson in for a secretive fourth transcribed interview,” the press release notes. “During this fourth transcribed interview, only Cheney and one other Committee counsel were present, in addition to Hutchinson’s new counsel. During this fourth transcribed interview Hutchinson testified to some of her most outlandish new claims.”
One of these claims was that Trump “lunged toward the driver of his car after he was denied his request to go to the Capitol.” The story was never corroborated.
Passantino was also made into a “scapegoat,” according to the press release.
The Select Committee “manufactured the story that Passantino gave Hutchinson faulty advice — such as instructing Hutchinson to withhold information, to misrepresent her testimony, and even that Passantino implied he would help Hutchinson with employment in return for favorable testimony,” the release explains. “Contrary to the Select Committee’s and Hutchinson’s narrative, however, the Subcommittee obtained messages between Farah Griffin and Hutchinson where Hutchinson admits that Passantino was acting in her best interest and that she agreed with his counsel.”
These actions were taken in an attempt to “make Hutchinson seem credible.”
