President-elect Donald Trump floated the idea of jail time for Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., and other Jan. 6 committee members over the weekend, accusing them of tampering with evidence, which, he alleges, could vindicate him from the Jan. 6 riots from nearly four years ago.
In her response, Cheney reiterated her belief that Trump is connected to the riots on Jan. 6, and said his allegations against her are not only baseless but also “a continuation of his assault on the rule of law and the foundations of our republic.”
“Here is the truth: Donald Trump attempted to overturn the 2020 presidential election and seize power,” she said before suggesting the president-elect “mobilized” the mob of protestors and encouraged them to go to the U.S. Capitol.
“Trump watched on television as police officers were brutally beaten and the Capitol was assaulted, refusing for hours to tell the mob to leave,” she said, calling it a “breach of our Constitution” The former Wyoming representative, who lost her reelection bid to pro-Trump candidate Harriet Hageman, categorized Trump’s claims as “ridiculous and false.”
“There is no conceivably appropriate factual or constitutional basis for what Donald Trump is suggesting — a Justice Department investigation of the work of a congressional committee — and any lawyer who attempts to pursue that course would quickly find themselves engaged in sanctionable conduct,” she said, according to the statement obtained by CNN.
President Joe Biden is reportedly considering giving preemptive pardons to a laundry list of individuals who could be targeted by Trump.
According to Politico, aside from figures like Dr. Anthony Fauci, the list also includes members of the Jan. 6 committee, notably Cheney, one of two Republicans on the committee, and Sen.-elect Adam Schiff, D-Calif.
Cheney is one of 10 Republicans who voted to impeach Trump in 2021 for incitement of insurrection.
Trump, in a post on Truth Social in March, said Cheney, along with other members of the Jan. 6 House panel, should face prison time. In an appearance on NBC News’ “Meet the Press” Sunday, Trump reiterated those comments.
He criticized Cheney for siding with Democrats and supporting Vice President Kamala Harris for president. “But Cheney did something that’s inexcusable,” he said. The president-elect accused the committee of destroying evidence that former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi turned down 10,000 troops. “You wouldn’t have had a J6 because other people were guilty,” Trump added.
Cheney has maintained that Trump and his inner circle broke the law knowingly. “I think what we have seen is a massive and well-organized and well-planned effort that used multiple tools to try and overturn an election,” Cheney said in 2022, as the Deseret News previously reported.