Former President Trump made a phone call to a witness in the House select committee’s investigation on the January 6 Capitol incident, according to the Committee’s vice chair Liz Cheney, near the end of the Tuesday hearing.
“That person declined to answer or respond to President Trump’s call and instead alerted their lawyer,” Cheney, R-Wyo., said in her closing statement. “Their lawyer alerted us and the committee has supplied that information to the Department of Justice. Let me say one more time. We will take any efforts to influence witness testimony very seriously.”
The witness, who Cheney referred to as yet unseen, was reportedly contacted after the previous hearing on June 28. Cheney had previously expressed concern that people within Trump’s inner circle may have attempted to contact witnesses in order to influence their testimony.
During the June 28 testimony, Cheney revealed statements from two other witnesses who claimed they had been contacted by individuals attempting to influence their testimony.
“What they said to me is, as long as I continue to be a team player, they know that I’m on the team,” said one witness. “I’m doing the right thing. I’m protecting who I need to protect, you know, 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 proceed through my depositions and interviews with the committee.”
The other received a voicemail that said: “[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.”
The June 28 hearing also saw allegations from Cassidy Hutchinson, a former Trump aide who alleged that he assaulted a Secret Service agent and attempted to wrest control of a vehicle from him on the day of the incident. The Secret Service has since denied the claims.
Trump has yet to comment on the allegations from Cheney and has referred to her and others on the Committee as the “Unselect Committee of Political Hacks and Thugs.”
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