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The select committee of the House investigating the January 6, 2021 insurgency could make multiple criminal references to former President Donald Trump’s Justice Department for his role in the U.S. Capitol attack, MP Liz Cheney (R -Wyo.), The vice chair of the committee. president, he said in an interview aired Sunday.
“The Justice Department shouldn’t expect the committee to make a criminal reference,” Cheney told ABC’s “This Week”. “And there could be more than one criminal derivation.”
Cheney stressed that the committee’s goals were not political, but also that the Justice Department should not refrain from prosecuting Trump for concerns about political optics if the evidence justifies criminal prosecution.
In an interview with ABC on July 3, MP Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) Stressed that the goals of the House committee investigating January 6, 2021 are not political. (Video: The Washington Post)
“I think it’s a much more serious constitutional threat if a president can get involved in these kinds of activities, and most of the president’s party is looking the other way, or we, as a country, decide we don’t really take it. seriously our constitutional obligations. ” said Cheney.
Cheney expressed serious concern over the idea of Trump running for the GOP presidential candidate for the third time.
“I think there’s no doubt, I mean, a man as dangerous as Donald Trump can never be closer to the oval office,” Cheney said.
The Republican Party, he said, could not survive if Trump were its presidential candidate in 2024.
“Millions of people, millions of Republicans have been betrayed by Donald Trump. And that’s really painful for people to recognize and admit, but it’s absolutely like that,” Cheney said. “And they have been betrayed by him, by the big lie and by what he keeps doing and saying to destroy our country and destroy our party.”
The interview was Cheney’s first since the Jan. 6 committee began holding public hearings, and was recorded days after Cassidy Hutchinson, a former aide to Trump’s chief of staff, Mark Meadows, testified. splendid on Trump’s actions and inaction on the day of the Capitol attack.
Hutchinson said last week that Trump knew some of his supporters were armed, but urged them to march on the Capitol anyway and that he reportedly was indifferent to mafia threats to hang Vice President Mike Pence .
“What kind of man knows that a mob is armed and sends the mob to attack the Capitol and further incites that mob when its own vice president is threatened? When is Congress threatened?” said Cheney. “It’s very creepy.”
Since then, Trump and his allies have tried to discredit Hutchinson, but Cheney said she was “absolutely confident” in the testimony of the former White House aide. Hutchinson also testified last week that Trump was “angry” when he was told he could not travel to the Capitol with his supporters after his speech at the Ellipse, and that he was told Trump threw himself angrily at him. his security detail while inside. the presidential limousine.
When asked if the committee had additional evidence to corroborate Hutchinson’s testimony, Cheney said the committee had “significant evidence on a whole range of issues, including the president’s intense anger” inside the presidential limousine. Cheney clearly suggested that anyone who denied Hutchinson’s version of events also testify before the committee under oath.
“What Cassidy Hutchinson did was an incredible example of courage, bravery and patriotism in the face of real pressure,” Cheney said. “The committee will not stay to see how his character is killed by anonymous sources and by men claiming executive privileges.”
Former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson testified June 28 about President Donald Trump’s actions around the January 6 Capitol attack. (Video: JM Rieger / The Washington Post, Photo: Jabin Botsford / The Washington Post)
Deputy Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.), The only other GOP member on the Jan. 6 committee, told CNN’s “State of the Union” that more witnesses have come forward since the hearings, including since Hutchinson testified.
“I don’t want to get into who, or any details,” Kinzinger said. “Every day we have new people come over and say, “Hey, I didn’t think maybe this snippet of a story I knew was important.”
The Jan. 6 committee had already interviewed two people who were inside the presidential limousine at the time of Trump’s alleged outburst: Robert Engel, former head of retail for the Trump Secret Service, and Anthony Ornato, who coordinated the physical security in the White House.
On NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), A member of the Jan. 6 committee, said Ornato’s memory “doesn’t seem as accurate” as Hutchinson’s. but he hesitated when asked if Ornato had given his testimony before the committee under oath.
Deputy Adam B. Schiff (D-Calif.), Another member of the Jan. 6 committee, said Sunday that he could not go into detail about what Engel and Ornato had previously shared with the committee, but that members of the committee committee would be interested in getting the two men back to “clarify” what happened inside the presidential limousine.
The committee, he added, was also “in talks” with the lawyers of Pat Cipollone, a former White House lawyer, whom the committee has interviewed before but who would like to return for further testimony. Hutchinson testified last week that Cipollone had warned of legal risks to Trump if he went to the Capitol on Jan. 6.
“But the most important thing is: there doesn’t seem to be any dispute about the president being furious that he couldn’t accompany this armed crowd to the Capitol,” Schiff told CBS’s “Face the Nation.” “This doesn’t seem to be disputed by anyone except Donald Trump, who, as we’ve seen in the past, has no credibility.”
Schiff said he agreed with Cheney that there could be multiple criminal references to Trump in the Justice Department and that it would do much more harm to the country if Trump were not investigated out of concern for further political division.
Schiff warned that if the Justice Department took the position that it could not investigate or prosecute a former president, that would elevate Trump to being someone who is above the law.
“It’s a very dangerous idea that the founders would never have subscribed to, even more dangerous, I think, in the case of Donald Trump,” Schiff said. “Donald Trump is someone who has shown that when he is not held accountable, he commits worse and worse abuses of power.”
The Jan. 6 committee continues to explore any connection between Trump’s White House and far-right white nationalist groups that participated in the Capitol attack, he said.
“Our next hearing will focus on efforts to bring this crowd together at [National] Mall: Who participated, who funded it, how it was organized, including the participation of these white nationalist groups like the Proud Boys and Three Percenters and others, “Schiff said.” I think we got some answers, but there are still many things we don’t know we’ll find out. “
Nick Miroff contributed to this report.
The January 6 insurrection
The select committee of the House investigating the January 6, 2021 uprising is holding a series of high-profile hearings this month.
Hearings in Congress: The House committee investigating the attack on the U.S. Capitol has conducted more than 1,000 interviews over the past year. He is sharing his findings in a series of hearings starting June 9th. Here’s what we know about audiences and how to view them.
The riot: On January 6, 2021, a pro-Trump mafia stormed the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to stop certification of the results of the 2020 elections. Five people died that day or immediately thereafter, and 140 police officers were killed. attacked.
Inside the siege: During the riot, rioters came dangerously close to entering the building’s inner shrines while lawmakers were still there, including former Vice President Mike Pence. The Washington Post examined text messages, photos, and videos to create a video timeline of what happened on Jan. 6.
Charges: Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio and four lieutenants have been charged with seditious conspiracy, joining Oathkeepers leader Stewart Rhodes and about two dozen associates to be charged with their involvement in the attack on the Capitol. These are just a few of the hundreds who were charged, many of whom received substantially lighter punishments than those demanded by the government.