(The Center Square) – A new Republican oversight report accuses former Congresswoman Liz Cheney of colluding with witnesses in the Jan. 6 Select Committee investigation that she oversaw.
The bombshell report released Tuesday said Cheney should be investigated by the FBI for possible criminal activity for her role in the first committee, which was led by Democrats in the immediate aftermath of the conflict at the Capitol after now President-elect Donald Trump left office in 2021.
The Committee on House Administration’s Subcommittee on Oversight Chairman Barry Loudermilk, R-Ga., released the report, his second major report on the Jan. 6 storming of the Capitol.
From the report:
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 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.
Cheney has yet to publicly responded to the report.
Trump recently suggested some committee members should face jail time.
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., told media outlets this week that President Joe Biden should issue preemptive pardons for those members, something he is reportedly considering.
In a statement first reported by The Hill responding to Trump’s jail threat, Cheney focused on Trump’s role in the Jan. 6 storming of the Capitol, not her own defense.
The report raised a litany of concerns and questions about how the Jan. 6 investigation was carried out, how witnesses may have been pressured or influenced, and how records, files and other evidence was handled.
“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,” the report said.
Loudermilk’s first report examined the security lapses at the Capitol.
After Loudermilk and his team examining thousands of hours of video and millions of pages of documents, interviewing dozens of witnesses and multiple hearings, the report found the Jan. 6 event was a result of security lapses and bad decision-making at several levels of government.
“This report reveals that there was not just one single cause for what happened at the U.S. Capitol on January 6; but it was a series of intelligence, security, and leadership failures at several levels and numerous entities,” the report said. “Even amid multiple failures, there were two common elements that significantly contributed to the security issues: an excessive amount of political influence on critical decisions, and a greater concern over the optics than for protecting life and property.”
