Trump reported to Department of Justice for contacting Jan 6 committee witness, Liz Cheney reveals

Former president’s phone call was revealed in closing statement of latest hearing

January 6 committee vice-chair Liz Cheney has revealed an effort by former President Donald Trump to contact one of the panel’s witnesses.

In her closing statement at the conclusion of the House select committee’s latest hearing on Tuesday, Ms Cheney said that the former president called a witness who has not yet been made public. That witness alerted their lawyer to the call, who in turn notified the congressional committee.

Ms Cheney said that the committee has alerted the Department of Justice of the effort by the former president to personally contact one of its witnesses.

“After our last hearing. President Trump tried to call a witness in our investigation. A witness you have not yet seen in these hearings,” Ms Cheney said.

“That person declined to answer or respond to President Trump’s call and instead alerted their lawyer to the call. Their lawyer alerted us. And this committee has supplied that information to the Department of Justice.”

It is not the first time Ms Cheney, a Republican, has raised the issue of Mr Trump potentially tampering with witnesses.

Earlier this month, the Wyoming lawmaker said that there had been a pattern of potential witness tampering that “raises significant concern”, and read out parts of depositions that she claimed highlighted it.

Ms Cheney told the hearing that one witness had told the committee that allies of the former president had told them that they would “continue to stay in good graces in Trump world” as long as “I’m protecting who I need to protect.”

Earlier in the hearing, Ms Cheney told Mr Trump that he could not portray himself as being unaware of what was being planned for January 6.

“President Trump is a 76-year-old man. He is not an impressionable child,” she said in her opening statement.

And she later added: “Donald Trump cannot escape responsibility by being willfully blind.”