Trump Ally Jonathan Turley Torpedoed Claims Against Cheney That Trump Wants Her To Go To Jail For

Fox News contributor and consistent Trump ally Jonathan Turley torpedoed the claims underpinning President-elect Donald Trump’s dead-of-night threat to Liz Cheney over her participation in the January 6 investigation.

Shortly after three in the morning on Wednesday, Trump posted a message encouraging a criminal investigation into Cheney after a GOP-controlled subcommittee released a report saying the same.

He wrote “Liz Cheney could be in a lot of trouble based on the evidence obtained by the subcommittee, which states that ‘numerous federal laws were likely broken by Liz Cheney, and these violations should be investigated by the FBI.’”

The claim is based on accusations from a House subcommittee report that attempts to revise the history of January 6 by painting Trump as a blameless victim and the Jan. 6 investigation as a pack of lies. Released by Committee on House Administration’s Subcommittee on Oversight Chairman Barry Loudermilk (R-GA), it alleges Cheney “colluded with ‘star witness’ Cassidy Hutchinson.”

But Turley — who has consistently defended Trump both legally and politically on Fox News — debunked the idea that Cheney would or should be charged over the allegations in an October column.

While Turley does lend credence to the idea that “new evidence” could potentially suggest that Cheney acted within a “grey area” ethically, he ultimately concludes that Cheney was acting “as a member of Congress in this matter” and “had an institutional interest, if not a duty, to pursue witnesses”:

At the outset, in my view, Cheney was acting as a member of Congress in this matter. That 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.

Yet, the record does indicate that Cheney was not just aware of the represented status but the policy of the House to respect the rules governing represented parties. In one message Griffin tells Hutchinson, “Her one concern was so long ad [sic] you have counsel, she can’t really ethically talk to you without him.”

That did not appear to prove a barrier. Before Passantino withdrew as counsel, Cheney communicated secretly with Hutchinson. A later message was sent to Cheney reading on June 6, “Hi, this is Cassidy Hutchinson. I’m sorry for reaching out this way, but I was hoping to have a private conversation with you (soon), if you are willing.”

Cheney responded, “I would be happy to. Let me know what time works for you.”

A few days later, Hutchinson fired Passantino, who told Just the News that “I absolutely had no knowledge at the time that Congresswoman Liz Cheney was communicating with my client behind my back – either directly, through her staff, or through cutouts.”

However, Cheney has claimed that it was Hutchinson who reached out to her and indicated that she was severing her counsel. As an investigating member of Congress, she had an institutional interest, if not a duty, to pursue witnesses.

In her memoir, Cheney said that it was Hutchinson who contacted her directly after her third interview and added “I was very sympathetic to her situation, but I did not want our committee to be advising her on what she should do next…I told Cassidy that she could consult another lawyer, and seek his or her independent advice on how best to move forward.”

…

In the end, there are ethical concerns raised by these communications. Cheney should have worked through new counsel and proposing alternative counsel raises additional concerns given the interest of Cheney in having the witness “flip” against Trump. She could have waited for new counsel to communicate with her and the Committee.

Alternatively, Hutchinson could have fired her counsel and formally contacted the Committee as an unrepresented party. The ethical rules are designed to avoid this type of murky representational posture. Nevertheless, I am doubtful that this will result in any ethical proceedings against Cheney.

Read the full column here.