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Testimony from the Secret Service driver contradicted her allegations. He stated that he “did not see him [Trump] reach [for the wheel]. [President Trump] never grabbed the steering wheel. I didn’t see him, you know, lunge to try to get into the front seat at all.”
In a statement, Loudermilk highlighted Cheney’s direct and indirect communications with Hutchinson leading up to her testimony. “In the months prior to Hutchinson’s explosive private and public testimony, Cheney communicated with Hutchinson, both directly and through an intermediary — Alyssa Farah Griffin — [a former Trump aide, now a co-host on ‘The View’] while Hutchinson was represented by her attorney, Stefan Passantino.” Hutchinson was represented by Passantino for her first three interviews with the committee.
Despite having legal representation, Hutchinson reportedly reached out to Cheney via the encrypted messaging app Signal, without her attorney’s knowledge. This has led to accusations that Cheney violated ethical guidelines for lawyers, which prohibit communication with someone who is represented by an attorney without that attorney’s consent.
On his website, professor Jonathan Turley of George Washington University Law School stated, “Stefan Passantino, who some plainly considered as a stumbling obstacle to getting Hutchinson to switch against Trump, represented Hutchinson. Under oath, Hutchinson would testify that Passantino manipulated her comments to promote Donald Trump in spite of her contradictory statements and put pressure on her to be “loyal.”
However, texts reveal that Hutchinson said to Farrah Griffin, “[Passantino’s] not against my complying,” to which she allegedly replied, “I actually agree with Stefan’s approach and think it has achieving everyone’s goals.” I will gladly let Liz know.
Moreover, Cheney’s “one issue was so long as [sic] you have counsel, she can not really morally talk to you without him,” Farah Griffin sent Hutchinson this information.
Cheney, a member of the bar in Washington, D.C., thereby identified the issue. According to the bar’s code of conduct, “a lawyer shall not communicate or cause another to communicate with a person known to be represented by another lawyer in the matter about the subject of the representation, 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.”
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Hutchinson fired Passantino and recruited Cheney’s suggested attorneys, who agreed to represent Hutchinson pro gratis, or without charge, as Loudermilk said, “days after Cheney began contacting directly with Hutchinson.”
Hutchinson gave three more testimony before the committee on January 6 with the assistance of her new attorney.
From that point on, Loudermilk claimed, “Cheney’s influence on Hutchinson is evident by her abrupt change in testimony and eventual claims against President Trump utilizing second- and third-hand accounts,” citing the purported Trump-plunging-in-the-limousine incident among other things.
According to Loudermilk, Cheney stated that it would “compromise the Select Committee’s inquiry to be seen coaching witnesses and offering new legal representation” in her book “Oath and Honor: the explosive inside account from the most senior Republican to stand up to Donald Trump,” published in 2023. Cheney did not, however, mention in her book that it was she who brought Hutchinson new lawyers to represent Hutchinson pro gratis.
In her book “Enough,” which was published months before Cheney’s, Hutchinson did, however, acknowledge the help Cheney provided, stating that the congresswomen called her and suggested that she get a new attorney as well as a list of choices.
In summary, Loudermilk stated that Cheney had an ethical duty to speak with Hutchinson exclusively when her lawyer was present. Nonetheless, the Select Committee’s investigation of President Trump depended heavily on Hutchinson’s dramatic evidence.
Consequently, it appears that Cheney disregarded her moral obligations and spoke with Hutchinson directly behind Passantino’s back, urging her to terminate Passantino and even helping Hutchinson find new legal counsel.
Loudermilk claimed that Passantino had been advised by his client to suppress information from the committee, a claim made by Cheney and the Jan. 6 committee to have Passantino disbarred; however, the texts between Hutchinson and Farah Griffin appear to contradict this.
According to Passantino, he had not given the go-ahead for his client to speak with Cheney, as he told Just the News.
