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After Jan. 6, Meadows & Giuliani Sought Pardons; Cheney Says Trump Allies Tampering with Witnesses

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Former aide to White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, Cassidy Hutchinson, revealed Tuesday to the House January 6 committee that Meadows and Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani both sought pardons after the insurrection. Meanwhile, in a video deposition with Trump’s former national security adviser Mike Flynn, who supported Trump’s efforts to overturn the election, Flynn repeatedly refused to answer questions from committee Vice Chair Liz Cheney. Cheney concluded the hearing by presenting evidence of possible witness tampering by allies of Trump.

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This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.

AMY GOODMAN: Cassidy Hutchinson also described how White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani later sought pardons for the insurrection. Again, this is Vice Chair Liz Cheney.

REP. LIZ CHENEY: Ms. Hutchinson, did Rudy Giuliani ever suggest that he was interested in receiving a presidential pardon related to January 6th?

CASSIDY HUTCHINSON: He did.

REP. LIZ CHENEY: Ms. Hutchinson, did White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows ever indicate that he was interested in receiving a presidential pardon related to January 6th?

CASSIDY HUTCHINSON: Mr. Meadows did seek that pardon, yes, ma’am.

AMY GOODMAN: In her closing statement Tuesday, House January 6th committee Vice Chair Liz Cheney suggested witnesses — Trump allies have been intimidating committee witnesses.

REP. LIZ CHENEY: Our nation is preserved by those who abide by their oaths to our Constitution. Our nation is preserved by those who know the fundamental difference between right and wrong.

And I want all Americans to know that what Ms. Hutchinson has done today is not easy. The easy course is to hide from the spotlight, to refuse to come forward, to attempt to downplay or deny what happened.

That brings me to a different topic. While our committee has seen many witnesses, including many Republicans, testify fully and forthrightly, this has not been true of every witness. And we have received evidence of one particular practice that raises significant concern.

Our committee commonly asks witnesses connected to Mr. Trump’s administration or campaign whether they’ve been contacted by any of their former colleagues or anyone else who attempted to influence or impact their testimony. Without identifying any of the individuals involved, let me show you a couple of samples of answers we received to this question.

First, here is how one witness described phone calls from people interested in that witness’s testimony: quote, “What they said to me is, as long as I continue to be 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 continue to stay in good graces in Trump World. And they have reminded me a couple of times that Trump does read transcripts and just keep that in mind as I proceeded through my interviews with the committee.”

Here’s another sample in a different context. This is a call received by one of our witnesses: quote, “[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.”

I think most Americans know that attempting to influence witnesses to testify untruthfully presents very serious concerns.

AMY GOODMAN: And we end with Donald Trump’s former national security adviser, General Mike Flynn, who supported Trump’s efforts to overturn the election. During Tuesday’s hearing, the House committee aired excerpts of its video deposition with Flynn, who repeatedly refused to answer questions from House committee Vice Chair Liz Cheney.

REP. LIZ CHENEY: Do you believe the violence on January 6th was justified morally?

MICHAEL FLYNN: Take the Fifth.

REP. LIZ CHENEY: Do believe the violence on January 6th was justified legally?

MICHAEL FLYNN: Fifth.

REP. LIZ CHENEY: General Flynn, do you believe in the peaceful transition of power in the United States of America?

MICHAEL FLYNN: The Fifth.

AMY GOODMAN: “The Fifth,” so said President Trump’s former national security adviser, General Mike Flynn, in videotaped testimony. He was answering the questions of committee vice chair, Congressmember Liz Cheney.

If you want to see the full surprise hearing yesterday, that lasted about two hours, with Cassidy Hutchinson, with various deposition testimony, like Mike Flynn, go to democracynow.org. I’m Amy Goodman. Thanks so much for joining us.

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