Former Rep. Liz Cheney is facing renewed backlash after a handwriting expert’s analysis suggested potential misconduct during the January 6 Committee investigation. The scandal centers around Cassidy Hutchinson, a former White House aide who testified that she wrote a key note on January 6, 2021—evidence that Cheney prominently showcased during the committee’s hearings. However, a handwriting expert has now confirmed that former Trump White House lawyer Eric Herschmann, not Hutchinson, authored the note.
Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-GA), who chairs the House Administration oversight subcommittee, hired a handwriting expert to analyze the note. Loudermilk has since revealed that the expert concluded the handwriting matches Herschmann’s, not Hutchinson’s, as she previously testified under oath. This contradicts Cheney’s narrative and creates more questions about the credibility of Hutchinson’s testimony and the committee’s handling of evidence.
During her testimony, Hutchinson claimed that she wrote the note at the direction of then-White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows as the chaos unfolded at the Capitol on January 6. Cheney, who served as the committee’s vice chair, prominently displayed the note during a televised hearing as proof of Hutchinson’s role in the response to the Capitol breach. Herschmann has consistently disputed Hutchinson’s claim, stating that he was the author of the note, which detailed a potential statement for then-President Donald Trump to make amid the breach.
Herschmann, who was present in the White House on January 6, maintained that he drafted the note in real-time while meeting with other officials. The handwriting expert’s confirmation of Herschmann’s side of the story now adds severe doubts about Hutchinson’s credibility. In a statement to ABC News, a spokesperson for Herschmann clarified that the handwritten note previously attributed to Hutchinson was actually penned by Herschmann himself on January 6, 2021.
“The handwritten note that Cassidy Hutchinson testified was written by her was in fact written by Eric Herschmann on January 6, 2021,” the spokesperson stated. They added, “All sources with direct knowledge and law enforcement have and will confirm that it was written by Mr. Herschmann.”
During Tuesday’s hearing, Hutchinson discussed the origins of the note in question. She testified, “That’s a note that I wrote at the direction of the chief of staff on Jan. 6, likely around 3 o’clock.” When questioned about the handwriting on the chief of staff’s note card, Rep. Cheney inquired, “And it’s written on the chief of staff note card, but that’s your handwriting, Ms. Hutchinson?”
To which Hutchinson confirmed, “That’s my handwriting.” Hutchinson, who served as a senior aide to Meadows, explained that Meadows provided her with the note card and a pen, and began dictating a potential statement for Trump to release during the Capitol breach.
Evidence obtained by congressional investigators and Just the News suggested that Cheney may have engaged in potentially unethical communications with Hutchinson. According to sources, Cheney used the encrypted messaging app Signal to communicate directly with Hutchinson and her associate, Alyssa Farah Griffin, during a critical period of the investigation on June 6, 2022. At the time, Hutchinson was represented by attorney Stefan Passantino, who later revealed that he was unaware of any direct contact between Cheney and Hutchinson. Passantino stated that he had not authorized any such communication and only learned about it when Just the News reached out to him for comment.
Cheney, who previously lost her primary race in Wyoming largely due to her role on the January 6 Committee and criticism of former President Trump, had hoped to establish herself as a leading figure in the anti-Trump wing of the Republican Party. However, the fallout from the Hutchinson handwriting debacle could further tarnish her reputation and undermine the committee’s findings.
