A new report from a Republican-led U.S. House subcommittee alleges that Liz Cheney may be criminally liable for tampering with evidence during her tenure as co-chair of the bipartisan select committee investigating the January 6th, 2021, Capitol breach. The hearings, co-led with Senator-elect Adam Schiff (D-CA), focused on former President Donald Trump’s role in the day’s violence. Congressman Barry Loudermilk (R-GA), chair of the Subcommittee on Oversight under the Committee on House Administration, asserts in the report that Cheney’s actions could constitute witness tampering, a felony offense punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
“Over the past twenty-four months of this investigation, my subcommittee staff have faced incredible obstacles in pursuit of the truth; missing and deleted documents, hidden evidence, unaccounted for video footage, and uncooperative bureaucrats,” Loudermilk writes in the report, a preface that covers the committee’s first report detailing security lapses in the Capitol building on J6.
“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. 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,” the report states, a copy of which was obtained by the Center Square.
It goes on: “The Federal Bureau of Investigation must also investigate Representative Cheney for violating 18 U.S.C. 1622, which prohibits any person from procuring another person to commit perjury. Based on the evidence obtained by this Subcommittee, Hutchinson committed perjury when she lied under oath to the Select Committee. Additionally, Hutchinson was interviewed by the FBI as part of its investigation into President Trump. This Subcommittee sought a copy of the FBI report 302, documenting this interview and Hutchinson’s statements, but the FBI has refused to produce this vital document. The FBI must immediately review the testimony given by Hutchinson in this interview to determine if she also lied in her FBI interview, and, if so, the role former Representative Cheney played in instigating Hutchinson to radically change her testimony.”
On Real America’s Voice, veteran conservative reporter John Solomon detailed a finding in the report, which “formally recommends” Cheney for an investigation by the FBI. “The report also says that Jack Smith colluded with the January 6th committee but that some of the evidence has not yet been turned over to Congress,” he adds. The J6 committee has faced heavy scrutiny for appearing to destroy or disappear records of its proceedings, many of which were not turned over to Republicans when they took control of the House in January of 2023.
