Liz Cheney Under Fire For Allegedly Improper Contacts With Cassidy Hutchinson

Rep. Liz Cheney, former co-chair of the January 6th Committee, has been criticized for her role in creating a one-sided and sometimes erroneous record of the events that occurred on January 6th. This includes editing out Trump's call for supporters to protest peacefully, burying evidence of Trump's offer to provide National Guard support for that day, and highlighting a false account of Trump in his presidential limo that was directly contradicted by witnesses. Cheney is now accused of unethically contacting a key represented witness, Cassidy Hutchinson, to get her to change her testimony. Hutchinson was initially represented by Stefan Passantino, who was viewed by some as a stumbling block to getting Hutchinson to turn against Trump. Hutchinson claimed under oath that Passantino pressured her to stay "loyal" to Donald Trump and coached her responses to support Trump despite her conflicting accounts. However, newly disclosed evidence contradicts this account, including Hutchinson telling former Trump aide Alyssa Farah Griffin that "[Passantino's] not against me complying." Griffin reportedly responded, "I actually agree with Stefan's approach and think it's accomplished everyone's goals. I am happy to tip Liz off." Hutchinson later fired Passantino and testified to allegations that have been challenged as untrue, including the limo incident that was repeatedly raised by Cheney and others. Cheney and the Committee were aware that the account was directly and clearly refuted by the driver of the vehicle. They buried his account and highlighted the claim in their final report as being credible. The new allegations concern the communications leading up to Hutchinson's changed testimony. Rep. Barry Loudermilk, R-Ga., chairman of the House Administration oversight subcommittee, has released the new evidence while alleging that Cheney used an encrypted phone app to evade defense counsel in speaking with Hutchinson. Under Rule 4.2 of the Rules of Professional Conduct, "a lawyer shall not communicate or cause another to communicate about the subject of the representation with a person known to be represented by another lawyer in the matter, unless the lawyer has the prior consent of the lawyer representing such other person or is authorized by law or a court order to do so." Cheney is a D.C. licensed lawyer. At the outset, in my view, Cheney was acting as a member of Congress in this matter. This has always been a rather grey area for lawyers who are also members of Congress. The bar has taken a broad view of the need for lawyers to adhere to these ethical standards. However, it is not clear politically or ethically if the Bar officials would be inclined to pursue Cheney, who has been lionized in Washington for her role in the investigation.