Former President Donald Trump allegedly called a witness from the committee after the panel’s latest hearing on Jan. 6, in what was a possible attempted tampering.
Rep. Liz Cheney, the vice chair of the House selection committee investigating the Capitol riot, revealed Tuesday afternoon that Trump was trying to contact a witness who has not yet testified publicly.
“After our last hearing, President Trump has been trying to call a witness in our investigation — a witness you haven’t seen in these hearings,” Cheney said in her closing statement.
That person declined to answer or answer President Trump’s call, instead informing their attorney about the call. Their lawyer warned us. And this committee has provided that information to the Ministry of Justice.”
Cheney then warned anyone who would attempt to interfere with witnesses.
“Let me say again, we will take any attempt to influence witness statements very seriously,” she said.
The revelation came at the end of the commission’s seventh public hearing, which focused on Trump’s connection to extremist groups as rioters gathered to storm the Capitol in an attempt to stop Congress from certifying Joe Biden’s victory. .
Jason Van Tatenhove, a former spokesperson for the extremist group the Oath Keepers, said it was “extremely lucky that there has been no more bloodshed.”
He added that he fears that if Trump runs for president in 2024, he will “try to stir up a civil war among his followers with lies and deceit.”
A former Trump supporter, Stephen Ayres, who has pleaded guilty in connection with the riots, testified that he stormed the Capitol over Trump’s December 2020 tweet that it “will be wild.”
He said he believed Trump’s false claims that the election had been stolen from him, leaving him “very upset” and feeling that “I had to be down there.”
Ayers, who is not a member of extremist groups such as the Oath Keepers or Proud Boys, said he has lost his job and had to sell his house since he took part in the uprising.
“It definitely changed my life, not for the better,” Ayres said. “Certainly not for the better.”
In addition, the commission released an unsent tweet intended for Trump’s account, which allegedly revealed that the ex-president and his advisers planned to rally a crowd to the Capitol.
“The evidence confirms that this was not an impromptu call to action, but rather a deliberate strategy decided upon by the president in advance,” said Representative Stephanie Murphy.
Thursday’s hearing also included clips from former White House adviser Pat Cipollone’s statement, in which he agreed with other Trump officials that there was insufficient evidence of election fraud.
The committee’s eighth public hearing will take place next week.
Contact our news team by sending an email to: [email protected]†
For more stories like this, check our news page†