Cassidy Hutchinson was one of the witnesses the Trump circle sought to influence, sources say

() — Cassidy Hutchinson, a former Trump White House adviser, told the House select committee on Jan. 6 that someone contacted her to try to influence her testimony, three sources familiar with the hearing’s filing told . .

The commission’s vice chair, Republican Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, said at Tuesday’s hearing that two witnesses, whom she did not name, told the commission they had heard from people associated with former President Donald Trump’s circle that they may have been trying to intimidate them. Sources tell that Hutchinson is one of those witnesses.

The commission wrapped up its presentation Tuesday at its successful hearing by showing sample testimony describing witnesses who were asked by people close to the former president to be loyal to him and his administration.

“We commonly ask witnesses associated with Mr. Trump’s administration or campaign if they have been contacted by any of their former colleagues, or anyone else, in an attempt to influence or affect their testimony,” Cheney said during the hearing, before showing snippets of how witnesses responded to that question.

In both examples, the commission showed testimony where witnesses were told that the former president was paying attention to the fact that they had been called by the commission and that they expected them to remain committed to Trump.

Cassidy Hutchinson’s safety was a major concern of the commission prior to the hearing. It was partly because of this that they kept her identity a secret before the meeting.

Cassidy Hutchinson, an aide to then-White House Secretary General Mark Meadows, testified for nearly two hours Tuesday and in recorded closed-door testimony about how Meadows and Trump had been repeatedly warned about security concerns before and on the day of the raid. rally and assault on January 6, 2021. Hutchinson also testified about how Trump repeatedly tried to go to Capitol Hill on January 6.

PunchbowlNews It first reported that Cassidy Hutchinson was one of the witnesses called at the end of Tuesday’s hearing.

Committee members suggested that the two examples they presented were only a fraction of the evidence they had related to possible witness intimidation.

Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff of California, a member of the committee, told the behavior is part of a pattern of behavior by the former president.

“We’ve certainly seen a history of the former president trying to influence witnesses or intimidate them,” Schiff said.

A select committee spokesman declined to comment on the committee’s claims of possible witness intimidation.

At Tuesday’s hearing, Cheney said the commission had evidence of a “particular practice that raises significant concern.”

One witness, Cheney said, described phone calls from people interested in that witness’s testimony. Cheney said the anonymous witness told the commission: “What they told me is, as long as I’m still a team player, they know I’m on the right team. I’m doing the right thing. I’m protecting who I need to protect. You know, I’ll still be in good shape in Trump’s world. And I’ve been reminded a couple of times that Trump reads the transcripts.”

The second example Cheney gave is a call a witness received that said, “Quote: ‘Someone tells me you have your statement tomorrow. He wants me to let you know he’s thinking of you. He knows you’re loyal. do the right thing when you go to give your statement.

In an interview on ABC’s “Good Morning America” ​​that aired Thursday, Cheney was asked about the allegations of witness intimidation or influencing.

“It’s very serious,” Cheney said. “It really goes to the heart of our legal system. And it’s something that the commission will certainly review.”

He added, “It gives us a real sense of how the people around the former president are operating, to what extent they think they can affect witness testimony before the commission, and it’s something we take very seriously, and it’s something we that people should be aware of: it’s a very serious issue, and I imagine the Justice Department would be very interested and would also take it very seriously.”