What does this mean for Trump?
At the end of Tuesday’s (July 12) Jan. 6 Select Committee hearing, Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) revealed former President Donald Trump had attempted to call a witness yet to testify before the panel.
In her concluding remarks, Cheney disclosed, “After our last hearing, President Trump tried to call a witness in our investigation, a witness you have not yet seen in these hearings.”
“That person declined to answer or respond to President Trump’s call and instead alerted their lawyer to the call. Their lawyer alerted us, and this committee has supplied that information to the Department of Justice,” the Wyoming Republican continued.
After the hearing, when questioned by reporters, committee member Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) said he had no further information or knowledge of who Cheney was referring to, but admitted the panel was trying to send a firm message that “people should not be approaching witnesses to try to get them to alter their testimony,” and attempts to do so would be treated like a crime.
It appears this phone call isn’t the first time Trump has attempted to influence testimony.
Last month, during scathing testimony by Cathy Hutchinson — former Trump White House aide — Cheney displayed a text message sent to an undisclosed witness, which read: “[A person] let me know you have your deposition tomorrow. He wants me to let you know that he’s thinking about you. He knows you’re loyal, and you’re going to do the right thing when you go in for your deposition.”
At a previous public hearing, Cheney also displayed a statement from a witness, claiming they were told as long as they remain loyal to Trump, “I’ll continue to stay in good graces in Trump World. And they have reminded me a couple of times that Trump does read transcripts and just to keep that in mind as I proceeded through my depositions and interviews with the committee.”
