News
July 12, 2022 – 12:00 pm to 6:46 pm (ET)
Abruptly raising the question of witness tampering, the Jan. 6 committee revealed Tuesday that Donald Trump had attempted to contact a person who was talking to the panel about its investigation of the former president and the 2021 attack on the Capitol.
“We will take any effort to influence witness testimony very seriously,” said Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo. She said the committee had notified the Justice Department.
The person Trump tried to contact declined to answer or respond to his call, Cheney said. Instead the person alerted their lawyer who contacted the committee.
The disclosure by Cheney was not the first time the panel has raised concerns about witnesses being contacted by Trump’s team in ways that could reflect or at least create the appearance of inappropriate influence. It divulged examples last week of other times witnesses have received outreach from Trump allies, some suggesting he was aware they were talking to the committee, ahead of testimony before the panel.
PBS NewsHour – July 12, 2022 (04:24)
Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit Iran next week, the Kremlin said Tuesday, a day after the U.S. warned that Tehran could provide Moscow with drones for its action in Ukraine.
During a trip to Tehran next Tuesday, Putin will attend a trilateral meeting with the leaders of Iran and Turkey, the so-called Astana format of meetings for Syria-related talks, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
Putin’s visit to Iran will follow U.S. President Joe Biden’s trip to Israel and Saudi Arabia this week, where Iran’s nuclear program and malign activities in the region will be a key subject of discussion.
Peskov told reporters that on the visit to Tehran, Putin will also have a separate meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
CNN, – July 12, 2022
In her opening remarks at Tuesday’s January 6 committee hearing, Rep. Liz Cheney had a blunt message: Donald Trump doesn’t get to play the unwitting dupe when it comes to his role in the run-up to and riot at the US Capitol.
“President Trump is a 76-year-old man,” Cheney said at one point. “He is not an impressionable child.”
“Donald Trump cannot escape responsibility by being willfully blind,” the Wyoming Republican said at another moment.
Those quotes were part of a broader argument made by Cheney centered on the evolution of the approach that Trump and his defenders have adopted over the duration of the January 6 committee’s activity.
Cheney noted that early on, the strategy by Trump allies was to delay their testimony by throwing up a variety of roadblocks to key aides appearing before the committee.
July 12, 2022 – 6:00 pm to 7:00 pm (ET)
