Former Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney said President-elect Trump floating jail time for her and other members of the Jan. 6 Committee "is a continuation of his assault on the rule of law."
"Here is the truth: Donald Trump attempted to overturn the 2020 presidential election and seize power," Cheney said in a response statement to Trump, which was provided to Fox Digital. "He mobilized an angry mob and sent them to the United States Capitol, where they attacked police officers, invaded the building and halted the official counting of electoral votes. Trump watched on television as police officers were brutally beaten and the Capitol was assaulted, refusing for hours to tell the mob to leave."
Cheney’s response follows Trump joining NBC’s "Meet the Press" for a pre-recorded interview that aired Sunday, where the president-elect railed that Cheney, committee chairman Rep. Bennie Thompson and others "deleted and destroyed" evidence related to the Jan. 6 investigation and "should go to jail."
"Cheney did something that’s inexcusable, along with Thompson and the people on the un-select committee of political thugs and, you know, creeps," he said in the interview. "They deleted and destroyed all evidence."
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"And Cheney was behind it. And so was Bennie Thompson and everybody on that committee," he continued. "For what they did, honestly, they should go to jail."
Cheney shot back in her statement that Jan. 6, 2021, "was the worst breach of our Constitution by any president in our nation’s history. Donald Trump’s suggestion that members of Congress who later investigated his illegal and unconstitutional actions should be jailed is a continuation of his assault on the rule of law and the foundations of our republic."
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The Jan. 6 committee was founded in July 2021 to investigate the breach of the U.S. Capitol earlier that year by supporters of Trump ahead of President Biden officially taking office on Jan. 20. The Jan. 6 committee’s investigation was carried out when Democrats held control of the House.
The committee concluded its 18-month investigation last year, when Republicans regained control of the House, and sent referrals to the Justice Department recommending Trump be criminally prosecuted for his involvement in the lead-up to supporters breaching the Capitol.
The committee was composed of seven Democrats and two Republican lawmakers, Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, both of whom are no longer in office.
Earlier this year, House Republicans released a report alleging the select committee "deleted" records and hired "Hollywood producers" to promote a political narrative while investigating Jan. 6.
"For nearly two years, former Speaker Nancy Pelosi's January 6th Select Committee promoted hearsay and cherry-picked information to promote its political goal – to legislatively prosecute former President Donald Trump," Rep. Barry Loudermilk, R-Ga., chairman of the Committee on House Administration's Subcommittee on Oversight, said in a statement regarding the report in March.
Among its key findings, the report claimed that the select committee was designed "to promote a political narrative" and also asserted that it "deleted records and hid evidence" ahead of Republicans taking the House majority during the 2022 election cycle.
"THE SELECT COMMITTEE DELETED RECORDS AND HID EVIDENCE - Reps. Thompson and Cheney failed to turn over video recordings of witness interviews and depositions despite using these recordings in their high-profile, primetime hearings. The Subcommittee recovered over one hundred deleted or password-protected files, including some files that were deleted days before Republicans took the majority. They also hid multiple transcribed interviews of witnesses who had firsthand knowledge of Trump‘s actions on January 6," the report found.
Trump had repeatedly claimed that Cheney and others on the committee "deleted" evidence. Cheney slammed Loudermilk’s report at the time as a "cover up" for Trump’s actions on Jan. 6.
"If your response to Trump’s assault on our democracy is to lie & cover up what he did, attack the brave men & women who came forward with the truth, and defend the criminals who violently assaulted the Capitol, you need to rethink whose side you’re on. Hint: It’s not America’s," she posted to X at the time.
Cheney added in her statement this week that Trump’s claims of the committee destroying evidence are "ridiculous and false."
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"Donald Trump knows his claims about the select committee are ridiculous and false, as has been detailed extensively, including by Chairman Thompson," she continued. Cheney cited a July 2023 letter from Thompson to Loudermilk, refuting claims that evidence was destroyed, detailing that the committee had called on the federal government regarding the "proper archiving of such sensitive material to protect witnesses’ safety, national security, and to safeguard law enforcement operations."
"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," Cheney continued.
Cheney added that materials from Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into Trump and the 2020 election should be preserved and made public.
"The Justice Department should ensure that all that material is preserved and cannot be destroyed. As much of that information as possible should be disclosed in the special counsel’s upcoming report."
As Trump surged in popularity ahead of the 2024 election, Cheney joined forces with Vice President Kamala Harris on the campaign trail to rally support for the Democratic ticket.
"I ask you to stand in truth. To reject the depraved cruelty of Donald Trump," Cheney told the Harris supporters in Wisconsin ahead of the election.
As Biden’s term in office comes to an end, speculation has mounted that the 46th president could hand "preemptive pardons" to those viewed as Trump’s political foes, including Cheney, Dr. Anthony Fauci, former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and California Sen.-elect Adam Schiff. Cheney did not say whether she would accept such a pardon if offered one.
