Thursday, 31 October 2024

Witness tampering? Texts show Liz Cheney spoke to J6 witness about testimony without lawyer present


liz cheney cassiy Hutchinson trump jan 6
(L) Cassidy Hutchinson, a former aide to former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows (R) Liz Cheney, member of the Committee on House Administration’s Subcommittee on Oversight
Shame on everyone involved.

You know, because we needed more evidence that the J6 Committee and Liz Cheney are nothing but...well, you know what I mean. If you follow me on X you know exactly what I would say if I lacked respect for my boss.

The Committee on House Administration's Subcommittee on Oversight released a bunch of texts between Cheney and J6 "star witness" Cassidy Hutchinson, a former aide to former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, about her testimony without the latter's lawyer present.

You don't have to be a lawyer to know you cannot speak to a witness without their lawyer. It's unethical.

At first, Cheney communicated with Hutchinson through Alyssa Farah Griffin, a former White House communications director:
When Hutchinson reached out to Farah Griffin, she invited Hutchinson over to her Georgetown townhome to talk on April 26, 2022. That evening, Hutchinson told Farah Griffin she had more information she could provide to the Select Committee, according to statements by both Hutchinson and Farah Griffin. During their conversation, Farah Griffin agreed to "[contact] Liz Cheney on [Hutchinson's] behalf about scheduling another interview." Hutchinson's new testimony would include her never-before-heard story that alleged that President Trump agreed with rioters chanting "Hang Mike Pence."

According to text messages, that appear to be from the encrypted messaging app "Signal," between Hutchinson and Farah Griffin obtained by the Subcommittee, Cheney agreed to communicate with Hutchinson through Farah Griffin. However, 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 is evident by Farah Griffin's text to Hutchinson that Cheney's "one concern was so long as [sic] you have counsel, she can't really ethically talk to you without him."?

For nearly a month, Farah Griffin acted as an intermediary between Cheney and the Select Committee. As an intermediary for Cheney, Farah Griffin helped coordinate Hutchinson's third transcribed interview — without Hutchinson's lawyer, Stefan Passantino's knowledge. During the same time, Farah Griffin and Hutchinson discussed the optics of Hutchinson leaking her "new information" to the press instead of providing it directly to the Select Committee. 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. Presumably this was done at Cheney's direction because it was Cheney herself who led the third transcribed interview with Hutchinson. Cheney knew that Passantino represented Hutchinson leading up to and during this third transcribed interview with the Select Committee on May 17, 2021.
Cheney made direct contact with Hutchinson after her third transcribed interview.

Cheney knew Passantino represented Hutchinson.

But she soon dropped the lawyer. Cheney managed to supply new lawyers...pro bono.

I kid you not.
Cassidy hutchinson liz cheney texts witness tampering
Cassidy hutchinson liz cheney texts witness tampering
Yup. Hutchinson fired Passantino and took on the lawyers Cheney suggested.

With new lawyers, Hutchinson gave a fourth and secretive interview with Cheney and another J6 Committee counsel.

What happened in that fourth interview?

Hutchinson provided "some of her most outlandish new claims."

People, even those involved, contradicted Hutchinson's claims, as Jonathan Turley pointed out:
Hutchinson would later dump Passantino and testify to allegations that have been challenged as untrue. That includes the limo allegation that was repeatedly raised by Cheney and others. Hutchinson recounted the story that Trump allegedly grabbed the wheel of the vehicle after the Secret Service allegedly refused to take him to the Capitol.

Cheney and the Committee were aware that the account was directly and clearly refuted by the driver of the vehicle. However, they buried his account and highlighted that claim in its final report as being credible.
In Cheney's book, she never said she recommended new attorneys for Hutchinson.

In her book, Hutchinson claimed that Cheney advised her "to change attorneys and even provided a list of recommendations."

It gets better.

Other texts show Cheney and Hutchinson tried to get Passantino disbarred:
After Hutchinson switched attorneys at Cheney's direction, the Select Committee needed to ensure Hutchinson's credibility as a witness and explain away her changed testimony. To do this, the Select Committee needed to create a new narrative that would make Passantino the scapegoat. They 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. 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.

The Subcommittee has reviewed relevant documents revealing that both bar complaints filed against Passantino in Washington D.C. and Georgia were "dismissed" without imposing any penalties against Passantio. Instead of Cheney facing scrutiny for unethically communicating with Hutchinson behind the back of her legal representation, Cheney used the weight of the Select Committee to pressure the D.C. Bar to investigate her star witness's scapegoat. This was all to make Hutchinson seem credible while destroying the credibility of any dissenting voice, and that meant attacking the career of anyone who stood in the way of the Select Committee's narrative.
Cassidy hutchinson liz cheney texts witness tampering
Cassidy hutchinson liz cheney texts witness tampering

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