Liz Cheney offers evidence of January 6 witnesses tampering from Trumpworld

• The January 6 committee on Tuesday shared evidence of witness tampering from Trumpworld figures.
• The panel presented two messages that witnesses said they received ahead of their depositions.

The GOP vice-chair of the January 6 committee ended a damning hearing on Tuesday by presenting evidence that figures close to former President Donald Trump may have engaged in tampering with some witnesses who have testified in the probe.

Republican Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming offered the two examples of apparent witness tampering at the end of a surprise hearing held by the House Select Committee investigating the January 6 Capitol insurrection.

Cheney shared two messages that she said witnesses had received ahead of their depositions. The witnesses, who Cheney didn't name, subsequently shared the messages with the committee.

"What they said to me is as long as I continue to be a team player, they know that I'm on the team, I'm doing the right thing, I'm protecting who I need to protect, you know, I'll continue to stay in the good graces in Trump world," the first text message read. "And they have reminded me a couple of times that Trump does read transcripts and just keep that in mind as I proceed through my depositions and interviews with the committee."

A separate witness warning from Trumpworld came in the form of a phone call, said Cheney, a 3-term congresswoman who is facing a GOP primary challenge next month from a Trump-endorsed rival.

"[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 caller said.

Witness tampering is a federal crime.

In 2019, former Trump aide Roger Stone was convicted of witness tampering and lying to Congress in an attempt to obstruct the House investigation into whether the 2016 Trump campaign coordinated with Russia. The following year he was sentenced to more than three years in prison, though Trump pardoned his longtime ally in late December 2020 after losing his own reelection bid.