Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., revealed on Monday that witnesses for the Jan. 6 investigation were contacted by associates of former President Donald Trump in an effort to influence their testimony.
"We have also obtained evidence of efforts to provide or offer employment to witnesses," Lofgren said in the hearing. "For example, one lawyer told a witness the witness could, in certain circumstances, tell the committee that she didn't recall facts when she actually did recall them. That lawyer also did not disclose who is paying for the lawyer's representation despite questions from the client seeking that information. He told her 'We're not telling people where funding is coming from right now.'"
Lofgren also said that the committee learned that "a client was offered potential employment that would make her 'financially very comfortable' as the date of her testimony approached by entities that were apparently linked to Donald Trump and his associates."
"These offers were withdrawn or didn't materialize as reports of the content of her testimony circulated," she added. "The witness believed this was an effort to affect her testimony and we are concerned that these efforts may have been a strategy to prevent the committee from finding the truth."
Lofgren: We have also obtained evidence of efforts to provide or offer employment to witnesses pic.twitter.com/iqIecto3lh
— Acyn (@Acyn) December 19, 2022
Concerns about Trump's influence on witnesses have increased since late June, when Cassidy Hutchinson, a former aide in his White House, provided damning testimony in front of the House panel about Trump's actions and statements on Jan. 6.
Before giving her testimony, Hutchinson fired a lawyer that was recommended to her by two of Trump's former aides and was paid for by his political action committee. She then hired a new lawyer, Jody Hunt, and sat for a fourth interview with the committee in which she agreed to come forward publicly to testify.
The committee also shared testimony from key witnesses in July, including former White House counsel Pat Cipollone, who said that they believed the election wasn't stolen, as Trump has adamantly claimed, and that it was time for him to concede.
