调查1月6日的众议院特别委员会将于周四举行第二次黄金时间听证会，重点是特朗普白宫的反应起义展开的时候。
在最近一次备受关注的听证会后，人们再次关注证人篡改以及特朗普实施这一行为的可能性。
在最近的一次听证会上，该委员会副主席、怀俄明州共和党众议员利兹·切尼(Liz Cheney)表示，特朗普试图在该委员会对去年美国国会大厦遇袭事件的调查中传唤一名证人。
1月6日委员会准备周四黄金时段的听证会
“在我们最后一次听证会后，特朗普总统试图在我们的调查中传唤一名证人——一名你在这些听证会上尚未见过的证人。那个人拒绝接听或回应特朗普总统的电话，而是提醒他们的律师注意这个电话，“切尼说当时。
委员会在继续调查时警告不要篡改证人。切尼说:“让我再说一遍，我们将非常认真地采取任何努力来影响证人的证词。”。
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但什么是篡改证人，特朗普可能犯了吗?
什么是干扰证人?
篡改证人是一项联邦罪行，被认为是妨碍司法公正的一种形式。
根据司法部的说法，当有人试图“影响、延迟或阻止任何人在官方诉讼中的证词”时，就会发生证人篡改。
斯坦福刑事司法中心(Stanford Criminal Justice Center)的联席主任罗伯特·韦斯伯格(Robert Weisberg)告诉美国广播公司新闻(ABC News)，“如果证人不以某种方式作证，这要么是以某种形式的伤害威胁证人，要么是做这件事，这被国会定义为腐败地说服某人说些什么。”。"不幸的是，国会在定义这一罪行方面做得非常糟糕。"
国会有权调查是否发生了犯罪，但它没有权力指控某人篡改证人——那是由司法部决定的。
一个人如果被认定犯有篡改证人罪，可能会被判处长达20年的监禁。
消息人士称，1月6日，证人特朗普据称试图打电话给白宫支持人员
唐纳德·特朗普涉嫌篡改证人
该委员会不仅调查了国会大厦的叛乱，还调查了时任总统特朗普在那天之前、期间和之后的事件中可能扮演的角色，该委员会称这些行动是他的“失职”。
特朗普否认有任何不当行为，多次批评众议院特别委员会对1月6日骚乱的调查，称其是片面的，有政治动机。
切尼对特朗普的惊人指控引发了他是否犯了罪的问题，如果是的话，是否有足够的证据指控他。
“这将取决于案件的强度，”前联邦检察官彼得·泽登伯格告诉美国广播公司新闻。“当人们像这样打电话时，通常会更谨慎一些，稍微眨眨眼，轻推一下。”
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据称，特朗普试图打电话给一名白宫支持人员，一名他通常不会打电话的人，有消息称。
尽管在所谓的通话中没有联系到证人，但据称仍然发生了犯罪，这是根据指导DOJ根据《美国法典》第18编第1512节“保护政府程序-干预受害者、证人或线人”
“没有要求被告的行为具有预期的阻碍作用，”它写道。
特朗普发言人泰勒·布多维奇尖锐地批评切尼的指责虽然也追着媒体跑，但并没有否认她的说法。
“媒体已经成为取消选择委员会的走卒。利兹·切尼继续传播影射和谎言，没有受到质疑，没有得到证实，但作为事实重复出现，因为叙述比事实更重要，”他在7月12日的推特上写道。
切尼对前总统的指控并不是特朗普第一次被指控妨碍司法公正。
迈克尔·科恩
特朗普的长期私人律师迈克尔·科恩在2018年被判逃税、违反竞选财务规则和向国会撒谎。
多年来，科恩一直表示忠于特朗普。但在2018年联邦调查局搜查他的家后，他愿意配合特别顾问罗伯特·穆勒对时任总统的调查。
科恩的律师表示，特朗普的顾问暗示，在联邦调查局搜查科恩的住所后，他将赦免科恩。一旦科恩同意作证，特朗普就开始公开攻击他的前律师，并建议对他的岳父进行调查。
众议院监督和改革委员会当时表示，“恐吓证人、恐吓其家庭成员或阻止他们在国会作证的努力是教科书式的暴民策略，我们以最强烈的措辞予以谴责。我们国家的法律禁止劝阻、恐吓或以其他方式迫使证人不向国会提供证词。”
2019年，经过一段时间的拖延，科恩在众议院监督委员会面前作证，讲述了他为前老板工作的时间。科恩说，他最初推迟作证是因为“特朗普总统对他家人的持续威胁”。
AG Garland重申，在1月6日，没有人可以凌驾于法律之上，即使是特朗普
特朗普会被起诉吗?
韦斯伯格表示，司法部长梅里克·加兰不太可能指控特朗普，特别是如果他计划再次竞选总统的话。
“如果他宣布他将竞选总统，即使这并没有给他任何起诉豁免权，我们知道这正是加兰担心的情况，即在总统竞选中起诉某人，因为他不希望刑事司法系统扭曲政治进程，”韦斯伯格说。
“特朗普在这里有一种奇怪的影响力，”他补充道。
What is witness tampering, and could Trump possibly be charged?
The House select committee investigating Jan. 6 is holding its second prime-time hearing on Thursday, which will focus on the Trump White House's reaction to the insurrection as it unfolded.
Following a recent and highly publicized hearing, renewed attention is on witness tampering and the possibility that it was committed by Trump.
During a recent hearing, Wyoming Republican Rep. Liz Cheney, the committee's vice chair, said that Trump attempted to call a witness in the committee's investigation into last year's attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Jan. 6 committee prepares for prime-time hearing Thursday
"After our last hearing, President Trump tried to call a witness in our investigation -- a witness you have not yet seen in these hearings. That person declined to answer or respond to President Trump's call and, instead, alerted their lawyer to the call," Cheney said at the time.
The committee warned against witness tampering as it continues its investigation. "Let me say one more time, we will take any effort to influence witness testimony very seriously," Cheney said.
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But what is witness tampering, and did Trump possibly commit it?
What is witness tampering?
Witness tampering is a federal crime and is considered a form of obstruction of justice.
According to the Department of Justice, witness tampering occurs when someone tries to "influence, delay or prevent the testimony of any person in an official proceeding."
"It's either threatening a witness with some type of harm if the person doesn't testify in a certain way or doing this thing, which is defined by Congress as corruptly persuading someone to say something," Robert Weisberg, faculty co-director of the Stanford Criminal Justice Center, told ABC News. "Unfortunately, Congress has done an absolute horrible job defining the crime."
Congress has the authority to investigate if a crime took place, but it doesn't have the power to charge someone with witness tampering -- that is left up to the Department of Justice.
A person could be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison if found guilty of witness tampering.
Jan. 6 witness Trump allegedly tried to call was White House support staff, sources say
Donald Trump's alleged witness tampering
The committee has examined not only the insurrection at the Capitol, but also then-President Trump's possible role in the events leading up to, during and after that day, actions the committee says were a "dereliction of duty" on his part.
Trump, who has denied any wrongdoing, has repeatedly criticized the House select committee for its investigation into the Jan. 6 riot, calling it one-sided and politically motivated.
Cheney's bombshell accusation about Trump raises questions on if he committed a crime and, if so, if there's enough evidence to charge him.
"It would depend on the strength of the case," Peter Zeidenberg, a former federal prosecutor, told ABC News. "When people make calls like that, usually it's a little more guarded and a little bit of a wink wink, nudge nudge."
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Trump allegedly attempted to call a White House support staffer, a person he wouldn't normally call, sources said.
Despite not reaching the witness during the purported call, a crime still allegedly took place, this according to guidance from the DOJ under section 18 U.S.C. 1512, "Protection of government processes -- Tampering with victims, witnesses or informants."
"There is no requirement that the defendant's actions have the intended obstructive effect," it reads.
Trump spokesperson Taylor Budowich sharply criticized Cheney's accusation while also going after the media -- but did not deny her claims.
"The media has become pawns of the Unselect Committee. Liz Cheney continues to traffic in innuendos and lies that go unchallenged, unconfirmed, but repeated as fact because the narrative is more important than the truth," he tweeted on July 12.
Cheney's claim against the former president isn't the first time Trump has been accused of obstructing justice.
Michael Cohen
Michael Cohen, Trump's longtime personal lawyer, was convicted in 2018 for tax evasion, violating campaign finance rules and lying to Congress.
For years, Cohen had signaled loyalty to Trump. But after the FBI raided his home in 2018, he was open to cooperating with special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into the then-president.
Cohen's lawyer said that Trump's advisers were hinting that he would pardon Cohen following the FBI's raid into his home. Once Cohen agreed to testify, Trump began publicly attacking his former lawyer and suggested that his father-in-law should be investigated.
The House Committee on Oversight and Reform said at the time that "efforts to intimidate witnesses, scare their family members, or prevent them from testifying before Congress are textbook mob tactics that we condemn in the strongest terms. Our nation's laws prohibit efforts to discourage, intimidate, or otherwise pressure a witness not to provide testimony to Congress."
In 2019, after a delay, Cohen testified in front of the House Oversight Committee about his time working for his former boss. Cohen said he initially delayed his testimony because of "ongoing threats against his family from President Trump."
AG Garland reiterates 'no person' -- not even Trump -- is above the law over Jan. 6
Could Trump be charged?
It's unlikely Attorney General Merrick Garland will charge Trump, especially if he plans to run for president again, according to Weisberg.
"If he declares he's running for president, even though that doesn't give him any immunity from indictment, we know that's exactly the situation Garland fears, namely indicting someone amidst a presidential campaign, because he doesn't want the criminal justice systems to distort the political process," Weisberg said.
"There's a weird kind of leverage that Trump has here," he added.
