New Texts Show Liz Cheney Communicating with J6 Witness Cassidy Hutchinson About Her Testimony--Without Hutchinson's Attorney's Knowledge--Despite Cheney Knowing it Was Unethical...

by the Committee on House Administration

WASHINGTON – Committee on House Administration’s Subcommittee on Oversight Chairman Barry Loudermilk (GA-11) obtained never-before-seen correspondence between January 6 Select Committee Vice-Chair Liz Cheney and Cassidy Hutchinson and in 2022, while Hutchinson was still a subject of the Select Committee’s investigation.

In the months prior to Hutchinson’s explosive private and public testimony, Cheney communicated with Hutchinson, both directly and through an intermediary—Alyssa Farah Griffin—while Hutchinson was represented by her attorney, Stefan Passantino. The Select Committee conducted six transcribed interviews of Hutchinson in total. Passantino represented Hutchinson for the first three interviews.

Cheney began communicating with Hutchinson in April 2022.

Hutchinson reached out to Farah Griffin following Hutchinson’s second transcribed interview. Farah Griffin and Hutchinson knew each other from their time working together in the White House. Farah Griffin was one of the first former Trump administration officials to publicly criticize Trump in January 2021, and was publicly working with the Select Committee on its investigation.

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.

In her May 17, 2021, transcribed interview Hutchinson testified to a series of uncorroborated and unverified stories that conveniently fit the Select Committee’s narrative that President Trump is dangerous and solely responsible for the events of January 6. Despite already testifying to the Select Committee twice, Hutchinson never previously mentioned this “new information.”
After her third transcribed interview Hutchinson reached out to Cheney directly.

While Hutchinson revealed the general timing of these conversations in her book, the extent and content of their communication was never previously disclosed.

When Hutchinson texted Cheney, she was still represented by Passantino which, Cheney knew. Cheney and Hutchinson communicated directly for days without Passantino’s knowledge. Subsequently, Cheney provided Hutchison with new attorneys from Alston and Bird—pro bono.

Days after Cheney began communicating directly with Hutchinson, Hutchinson fired Passantino and hired Cheney’s recommended attorneys, who agreed to represent Hutchinson pro bono. Within a few weeks, Cheney brought Hutchinson in for a secretive fourth transcribed interview. 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.

The Subcommittee was only able to obtain a limited number of text messages from Hutchinson and Farah Griffin, but Cheney’s influence on Hutchinson is apparent from that point forward by her dramatic change in testimony and eventual claims against President Trump using second- and third-hand accounts. Specifically, Hutchinson claimed that Anthony Ornato told Hutchinson that Trump lunged toward the driver of his car after he was denied his request to go to the Capitol. This story has never been corroborated and was directly refuted by both USSS agents in the vehicle with Trump that day.

In her book, Cheney wrote that it would compromise the Select Committee’s investigation to be seen advising witnesses and suggesting new legal representation. However, Cheney failed to acknowledge in her own book that she herself provided Hutchinson with new attorneys who would represent Hutchinson pro bono (see below).

However, Hutchinson told a conflicting account of Cheney’s role in her legal representation. In Hutchinson’s book, she wrote that Cheney herself advised Hutchinson to change attorneys and even provided a list of recommendations.

It is apparent that Cheney knowingly communicated with Hutchinson—without Hutchinson’s attorney’s knowledge—and by doing so finally revealed the flawed process and alleged findings of the Select Committee.?Cheney had an ethical responsibility to only communicate with Hutchinson with her attorney present. However, Hutchinson’s sensational testimony was essential to the Select Committee’s inquisition of President Trump. Thus, Cheney apparently defied her ethical responsibilities and communicated directly with Hutchinson behind Passantino’s back, encouraged her to fire Passantino, and even assisted Hutchinson in obtaining new representation.
Cheney and Hutchinson Attempted to Disbar Passantino 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.

Background:

During the Select Committee’s sensationalized prime-time hearings, Hutchinson was their surprise, “star witness”. Hutchinson testified under oath that she heard that Trump had lunged at the steering wheel of the presidential SUV and engaged in a physical altercation with his lead Secret Service agent after being told they were not going to the Capitol on January 6, 2021.

Our Subcommittee’s “Initial Findings Report” released in March shows that other White House employees did not corroborate Hutchinson’s dramatic account, and instead directly refuted it. The Select Committee was in possession of these accounts but chose to hide them, and instead promoted Hutchinson’s scandalous narrative.

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