This story surprises me not in the least, as former representative Liz Cheney has the approximate respect for ethics of a wolf spider.

While vice chairwoman of the House committee “investigating” the January 6 Capitol riot (the correct term would be “exploiting”), Cheney used an encrypted phone app to directly communicate with witness Cassidy Hutchinson (above, with Cheney), who later changed her testimony. Cheney did this without alerting or having the permission and participation of Cassidy’s lawyer, a direct and serious violation of both legal ethics rules (Cheney is a member of the D.C. Bar and licensed to practice there) and Congressional rules as well.

Hutchinson was represented by D.C. attorney Stefan Passantino at the time, who says that he did not authorize the contacts with Cheney and was not aware of them until recently.

The D.C. Bar Rule of Professional Conduct 4.2 states that “a lawyer shall not communicate or cause another to communicate about the subject of the representation with a person known to be represented by another lawyer in the matter, unless the lawyer has the prior consent of the lawyer representing such other person or is authorized by law or a court order to do so.” Indeed every bar’s rules state this, as do the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct. It is one of the oldest and most strictly-observed legal ethics principles there is, pre-dating the first official set of legal ethics rules issued by the American Bar Association in 1908.

But never mind: when the mission is to vilify Donald Trump, the ends justify the means.

Rep. Barry Loudermilk, R-Ga., chairman of the House Administration oversight subcommittee, said, “Our investigation has uncovered unethical back-channel communications between former Rep. Liz Cheney and Cassidy Hutchinson just before Hutchinson changed her sworn testimony. Not only is communicating with a witness without their attorney present unethical, it undermines the integrity of an investigation…Clearly, Cheney did not want Stefan Passantino representing Hutchinson, as shortly after Cheney and Hutchinson began communicating, Cheney convinced Hutchinson to fire Passantino, and arranged for a new attorney to represent Hutchinson pro-bono. “

Meanwhile, Cheney accused Donald Trump of trying to contact another J6 witness and made a referral to the DOJ based on that accusation. “We will take any effort to influence witness testimony very seriously,” Cheney said, though she herself had contacted Hutchinson.

It’s amazing, isn’t it, what these people will do to “save democracy”?

I’m going to offer my services pro bono to Passantino if he wants to make an ethics case against Cheney, and if he doesn’t, I’ll do it on my own. There is some question whether the D.C. bar would discipline a lawyer based on conduct she engaged in while a member of Congress in an official proceeding; I’d be surprised if this hasn’t come up before, but if not, I’d be thrilled to help Liz be the test case.

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Pointer: Victory Girls