Former Rep. Liz Cheney is in the hot seat again, facing a fresh wave of scrutiny over her role in the January 6 Committee.
This time, the controversy stems from claims that key evidence presented by the committee could be fake.
As reported by Trending Politics News, [1] Cassidy Hutchinson, a former White House aide, had testified that she wrote a note showcased by Cheney as critical evidence during the hearings.
[2]However, a handwriting expert now confirms that former Trump White House lawyer Eric Herschmann, not Hutchinson, wrote the note.
Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-GA), who heads the House Administration oversight subcommittee, enlisted a handwriting expert to verify the note’s author. The results are damning for Cheney and her committee. According to Loudermilk, the expert identified the handwriting as Herschmann’s, not Hutchinson’s, as she had claimed under oath.
This revelation casts serious doubt on Hutchinson’s testimony and raises questions about the committee’s integrity.
During her testimony, Hutchinson asserted that she wrote the note at the direction of then-Chief of Staff Mark Meadows as chaos unfolded at the Capitol on January 6, 2021.
Cheney, who served as the committee’s vice chair, prominently displayed the note during a televised hearing, using it as evidence of Hutchinson’s role in shaping the White House’s response to the Capitol riot.
NEW: Cassidy Hutchinson/Liz Cheney scandal keeps getting worse.@RepLoudermilk [3] hired a handwriting expert to analyze a note Hutchinson testified under oath she had composed the afternoon of January 6.
Cheney held up the note, which was part of a statement dictated by Mark… pic.twitter.com/haBdxSBwFq [4]
— Julie Kelly 🇺🇸 (@julie_kelly2) October 21, 2024 [5]
Yet, Herschmann has always maintained that the note was his creation. He insists that he wrote it in real-time during a meeting with other officials, suggesting that Cheney’s prized evidence was based on falsehoods.
The expert’s confirmation of Herschmann’s version further undermines Hutchinson’s credibility. A spokesperson for Herschmann reiterated this in a statement to ABC News, stating that the note Hutchinson claimed to have written was actually authored by Herschmann himself on January 6, 2021.
The spokesperson added that all involved parties, including law enforcement, could confirm this fact.
This scandal extends beyond just a case of mistaken authorship. Evidence also suggests that Cheney may have engaged in questionable communications with Hutchinson during the investigation.
Reports indicate that Cheney used the encrypted messaging app Signal to communicate directly with Hutchinson and her associate Alyssa Farah Griffin in June 2022.
Hutchinson’s lawyer at the time, Stefan Passantino, was reportedly unaware of these communications, raising concerns about ethical lapses in Cheney’s conduct.
Cheney, who lost her Wyoming primary after spearheading the anti-Trump faction of the Republican Party, had hoped to bolster her political future through the committee’s work. But with the handwriting scandal and her behind-the-scenes actions under fire, Cheney’s legacy—and the credibility of the January 6 Committee—are increasingly in jeopardy.