Vice President Liz Cheney speaks as the select committee of the House investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol holds a hearing in Washington on June 28.J. Scott Applewhite / The Associated Press
Congressional panel investigating last year’s attack on the U.S. Capitol by Donald Trump supporters could make multiple references to the Justice Department to file criminal charges against the former president, said his vice president, Liz Cheney.
Mrs. Cheney, in an interview aired Sunday on ABC this week program, he also said the department should not wait for the select committee of the House of Representatives to make a formal recommendation of charges to take action against Mr. Trump.
When asked if the committee hearings have shown that Mr. Trump must be prosecuted, Ms. Cheney said, “Ultimately, the Justice Department will decide.”
Mrs. Cheney, one of the two Republicans in the Democratic-led group, said “we will make a decision as a committee” on whether we should make a formal criminal referral to the Justice Department to recommend charges against Mr. Trump.
“The Justice Department should not expect the committee to make a criminal referral. There could be more than one criminal referral,” Ms. Cheney said.
No criminal charges have ever been filed against a former U.S. president or incumbent. When asked what it would mean for the country if President Joe Biden’s Justice Department filed charges against his predecessor, Ms. Cheney said, “I’m more concerned about what it would mean if people weren’t responsible for what happened here.”
Ms. Cheney has criticized Mr. Trump’s conduct before, during, and after the January 6, 2021 Capitol attack by his supporters in his failed attempt to prevent Congress from certifying Biden’s election victory on 2020, including an incendiary speech immediately prior to the riot. .
“I think it’s a much more serious constitutional threat if a president can participate in these kinds of activities and, you know, most of the president’s party is looking the other way, or we as a country decide, you know, we will not actually do that. take our constitutional obligations seriously, “Ms Cheney said.
“And if you just think about it from the perspective of what kind of man knows a mob is armed and sends the mob to attack the Capitol and still incites that mob when its own vice president is threatened, when Congress is under control “threat,” Ms. Cheney added.
Ms. Cheney, whose father, Dick Cheney, served as vice president from 2001 to 2009, also said she has not yet decided on a possible presidential candidacy in 2024 even though she faces a challenge from the Republican primaries in his re-election candidacy. this year for his seat in the House representing Wyoming.
Mr. Trump has not yet announced whether he will return to the presidency in 2024.
“A man as dangerous as Donald Trump can never be closer to the oval office,” Ms. Cheney said.
A Trump representative did not immediately respond to a message asking for comments.
Mr. Trump has denied responsibility for the attack on the Capitol, but has said he would forgive those involved if he becomes president again.
Cassidy Hutchinson, a former adviser to the then chief of staff of Mr. White House. Trump’s Mark Meadows gave a splendid testimony to the panel last week about Mr. Trump’s conduct. Trump on the day of the riots.
Ms. Hutchinson testified that Mr. Trump tried to grab the steering wheel of his presidential limousine when his security detail refused to take him to the Capitol to join his supporters. He also said that Mr. Trump dismissed concerns that some supporters would gather for his speech before the riot carrying AR-15-style rifles, instead of asking security to stop monitoring attendees with metal-detecting magnetometers to make the crowd look bigger. .
Additional witnesses have been presented from the testimony of Mr. Hutchinson, Rep. Adam Kinzinger, the other Republican on the committee, said Sunday.
“Every day we have new people showing up,” Kinzinger told Sstate of the Union program, adding: “There will be a lot more information and stay tuned.”
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