House Speaker Johnson advises against subpoenaing star witness Jan. 6 over concerns about ‘sexual texts’ from lawmakers

A House aide Mike Johnson advised Republican colleagues against subpoenaing former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson as part of their investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, attack to prevent the release of sexually explicit texts lawmakers sent her, according to written correspondence that has been reviewed. by The Post and a person familiar with the effort.

The aide intervened last June, citing concerns that a subpoena could reveal the texts, according to the correspondence and the person, who requested anonymity to speak candidly about private conversations. Johnson revived the investigation this week as part of an effort by President Donald Trump and his allies to seek retaliation against perceived political enemies, including those investigating his role in the Capitol attack.

In a meeting after the June conversation, Johnson (R-Louisiana.) and senior aides also told Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-Georgia) and members of his staff that it would serve to issue a subpoena to Hutchinson and ask her to testify under oath as another opportunity for her to retell her story and potentially bring the Trump White House into embarrassment, according to two people who were present at the meeting.

Loudermilk had publicly floated the idea of ​​issuing a subpoena to Hutchinson, who rose to national prominence in an explosive 2022 hearing in which she testified that President Trump had wanted an armed mob to march on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 – and that he would join them.

Before that meeting, a Johnson aide told Loudermilk’s staff that several colleagues had raised concerns with the speaker’s office about the potential for public release of “sexual texts from members who attempted to engage in sexual favors” with Hutchinson, according to correspondence produced at the time , who detailed the conversation. Separately, a member of Johnson’s staff told Loudermilk aides that Hutchinson “could potentially reveal embarrassing information,” according to an email reviewed by The Post.

In the last Congress, Loudermilk spearheaded a Republican investigation into the Jan. 6 attack on the US Capitol, which included among its targets the Democratic investigation into the attack, ending its work in 2022. Critics have attacked the GOP investigation as part of Trump’s efforts to rewrite the history of what happened on January 6 and to seek retribution against those who blamed him for inciting the violence.

Loudermilk has been jockeying to lead a reconstituted version of the study this year. On Wednesday, Johnson named him chairman of a new select subcommittee that would continue the investigation.

Loudermilk considered issuing a subpoena to obtain testimony and electronic communications Hutchinson, because he thought she could provide new information, according to two people involved in the probe, about one of the panel’s key goals and a top political foe of President Trump who had orchestrated Hutchinson’s surprise testimony: former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyoming).

The Washington Post reviewed documentation reflecting the speaker’s office’s concern ahead of the June meeting between him and Loudermilk, which corroborated the person’s account, but has not seen the alleged sexually explicit messages or identified who sent them or whether Hutchinson responded.

In a statement, Hutchinson’s attorney, Bill Jordan, did not address the existence of the texts and said his client has voluntarily cooperated with the investigation. He also criticized the preliminary report Loudermilk issued in December, which accused Cheney of “secretly communicating with Hutchinson without Hutchinson’s attorney’s knowledge.”

“Ms. Hutchinson has testified truthfully and stands by every word despite the efforts of men in positions of power to attack her,” Jordan said.

Neither Johnson’s nor Loudermilk’s offices had immediate comment. A spokesman for Cheney also did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Cheney issued a statement in December calling Loudermilk’s report “defamatory” and a “malicious and cowardly attack on the truth.”

Loudermilk told CNN in an interview earlier this month that Johnson had agreed that his investigation from the previous Congress would be reconstituted this year by a new committee. Johnson’s announcement Wednesday specified that the new investigative committee would now sit on the House Judiciary Committee, which is chaired by Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio). It previously lived under House Administration Committee Chairman Bryan Steil (R-Wisconsin).

Cheney, along with members and some staff members of the committee, have since received general preemptive pardons from former President Joe Biden to protect them from prosecution by the Trump administration. Hutchinson was not among those pardoned.

During the course of their investigation, Loudermilk’s team obtained never-before-seen correspondence documenting apparent concerns Cheney had about communicating with Hutchinson without her attorney. In early 2024, Loudermilk directed Hutchinson to produce and preserve all records related to January 6, but staff did not call Hutchinson to testify under oath before the committee. Staff involved in the investigation claimed more could be retrieved from her using the panel’s subpoena power.

It is not clear whether Cheney’s pardon will dampen enthusiasm for the House panel to continue its line of inquiry. A growing number of members of the House and Trump allies are calling for deeper investigations into those who received preemptive pardons from Biden. And Trump himself has indicated that reworking the narrative surrounding the Jan. 6 attack is still front and center, issuing a blanket pardon Monday night for virtually all of the defendants convicted for their roles in the riot. He commuted the sentences of the remaining 14, cutting short sentences for nine members of the Oath Keepers and five members of the Proud Boys, both far-right groups.

Loudermilk told reporters on Inauguration Day that Trump himself had asked him to “continue the investigation and continue to uncover the truth.”

“I know President Trump is behind it 100 percent,” Loudermilk said.