Liz Cheney: Trump tried to call witness in House committee's Jan. 6 investigation
WASHINGTON — Former President Donald Trump tried to reach a witness by phone in the House Jan. 6 committee’s investigation of the Capitol insurrection, Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., said Tuesday.
Trump placed a call to the witness after the panel's last hearing, which took place on June 28, but the witness did not take the call, said Cheney, the committee’s vice chair.
Instead, the witness alerted their lawyer, who then alerted the Jan. 6 committee. The committee referred Trump’s call to the Justice Department, Cheney said at the end of Tuesday’s hearing.
“Let me say one more time, we will take any efforts to influence witness testimony very seriously,” she said.
Trump aides did not immediately respond to Yahoo News’ request for comment Tuesday afternoon.
Cheney’s revelation — she declined to say who the witness was — comes after the explosive testimony last month from former Trump White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson, who alerted the committee that Trump supporters tried to keep her from revealing too much.
Committee members have expressed concern for witness safety following the Hutchinson testimony and have taken further precautions, such as no longer announcing who will testify before the hearing.
