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Cameras Catch Telling Moment Between Cheney, Hutchinson After Hearing

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OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.


Wyoming GOP Rep. Liz Cheney, who serves as the vice-chair of the Democrat-led Jan. 6 committee, was photographed hugging Cassidy Hutchinson immediately after her controversial testimony.

Hutchinson, a former aide to ex-White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, testified before the committee during a special hearing on Tuesday and many of her allegations against former President Donald Trump have been refuted as being outright lies.

Cheney’s embrace of Hutchinson raised eyebrows, with people questioning (again) the fairness of the committee’s proceedings.

“If questioner (Cheney) wants to appear fair to jury (American people), it probably is not a good idea to get caught on camera hugging the witness,” Newsmax journalist Greta Van Susteren tweeted.

Van Susteren added, “Already people have very strong feelings – both ways – about this hearing and pics like this don’t help.” Brought by the committee as a special witness, Hutchinson delivered a series of major allegations against former President Donald Trump and his response to the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol incursion in her Tuesday testimony.

Many others sounded off on social media:

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After Hutchinson’s testimony, many of her salacious claims were rebuffed by those with the knowledge of what actually happened.

Much of Hutchinson’s testimony was hearsay and second-hand information that she heard from someone else but did not witness herself.

One of the most spectacular parts of her testimony came when she accused Trump of grabbing for the steering wheel of the presidential limo after being told that he could not go to the Capitol on January 6, 2020, and then grabbing for the throat of Secret Service agent Bobby Engel.

But within hours of her testimony, Engel said that the incident she spoke of never happened.

Engel, the agent who was driving the presidential SUV, and Trump security official Tony Ornato both disputed Hutchin’s allegations and said they would testify under oath that no agent was assaulted and Trump never lunged for the steering wheel.

A third official, former Trump White House lawyer Eric Herschmann, disputed Hutchinson’s claim that she wrote a note for Trump to read on January 6.

Herschmann said the note was written by him, not Hutchinson.

“The handwritten note that Cassidy Hutchinson testified was written by her was in fact written by Eric Herschmann on January 6, 2021,” a spokesperson for Herschmann said. “All sources with direct knowledge and law enforcement have and will confirm that it was written by Mr. Herschmann.”

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For her part, Cheney is standing by Hutchinson despite almost all of her allegations being rebuked and disputed.

Cheney told ABC’s “This Week” co-anchor Jonathan Karl that she is “absolutely confident” in Hutchinson’s testimony.

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“She’s an incredibly brave young woman,” Cheney continued. “The committee is not going to stand by and watch her character be assassinated by anonymous sources and by men who are claiming executive privilege.”

“I think that what Cassidy Hutchinson did was an unbelievable example of bravery and of courage and patriotism in the face of real pressure,” said Cheney, who is 30 points down in her re-election bid in Wyoming against Trump-endorsed Harriet Hageman.

It’s not likely she will ever admit it, but it appears as though Cheney’s biggest political mistake was taking on Trump.

The Wyoming Republican incurred Trump’s wrath earlier when she 1) blamed him for the Capitol incident; 2) publicly condemned him for it; 3) voted to impeach him over it; and then 4) took on the vice-chair role on a very partisan, Democrat-controlled committee selected by Nancy Pelosi to investigate the origins of the incident.

Cheney is about to pay the price for all of that after a poll found that she’s down a whopping 30 points to Hageman.

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