America First Legal, a conservative advocacy group, filed a surprise bar complaint against notorious RINO Liz Cheney, alleging that she violated major ethics rules by secretly communicating with J6 witness Cassidy Hutchinson.
For context, the House Oversight Subcommittee report proves that Cheney knew she was breaking the rules and influenced Hutchinson to change her testimony. Her attorney, Stefan Passantino, was professionally damaged by the situation and has sought greater accountability for the controversial former politician.
In any case, Cheney desperately sought to deflect the blame in her testimony before the House. She said, “Not long after this third interview, Cassidy contacted me directly. She told me that she was inclined to represent herself going forward. I was very sympathetic to her situation, but I did not want our committee to be advising her on what she should do next.”
Continuing, the former Wyoming representative laid out the details of her alleged actions. She claimed, “I told Cassidy that she could consult another lawyer, and seek his or her independent advice on how best to move forward. Every witness deserves an attorney who will represent their interests exclusively.”
Ultimately, Cassidy decided to retain two new lawyers, both with prior experience in the Justice Department. One had been appointed a few years earlier by President Trump to oversee the Justice Department’s civil division. The other had served at Justice during the George W. Bush administration. They represented Cassidy pro bono—that is, without charging her anything.
However, as the official press release tells a much different story, an excerpt from Cassidy Hutchinson’s book makes Cheney look much more guilty. The January 6th witness wrote, “I asked if she or any of the members or committee staff might know an attorney who would be willing to put me on a payment plan. Liz said that she would follow up after she spoke with colleagues.”
Providing more detail, the book revealed, “The next day, she called and provided me with contact information for multiple attorneys at various firms. I thanked her and promised that I would figure out a way to do the right thing, regardless of the outcome of the search for new counsel,” adding another melodramatic remark, she said, ” I could not find the words to tell her that the committee was giving me one of the greatest gifts I could have received: hope.”
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According to information from the America First Legal brief, Cheney knew what she was doing was wrong. The press release said, “…It appears that Cheney knew communicating with Hutchinson while Hutchinson was represented by an attorney and a subject of the Select Committee’s investigation without going through Hutchinson’s attorney would be unethical.”
Supporting this argument, the document pulled from reams of screenshots of their chat. The document alleged, “This is evident by Farah Griffin’s test of Hutchinson that Cheney’s ‘one concern was so long ad [sic] you have counsel, she can’t really ethically talk to you without him.’”
Specifically, America First Legal contends that Cheney has violated D.C. Bar Rule 4.2, which lays out the rules for legal representation. The statute reads, “A lawyer shall not communicate or cause another to communicate about the subject of the representation with a person known to be represented by another lawyer in the matter, 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.”