Relentless Liz Cheney spares no Republican complicit in Trump's crimes

As the select committee investigating Jan. 6 secured criminal contempt referrals against two top Trump aides this week, the panel's vice chair, Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, meted out a drubbing to Republicans who were and continue to be complicit in Donald Trump's 2020 election-stealing scheme.

Like poetry in motion, Cheney directly impugned her GOP colleagues, starting with Trump and his aides, former Assistant to the President Peter Navarro and former White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Communications Dan Scavino.

"Neither Mr. Trump nor Mr. Scavino nor Mr. Navarro is some form of royalty," Cheney said in her House floor speech preceding the final vote. "There is no such thing in America as the privileges of the crown. Every citizen has a duty to comply with a subpoena." Cheney also made the point this week that the Jan. 6 panel would have much preferred to interview the two men rather than hold them in contempt of Congress.

Here’s a glimpse of Cheney’s work at a series of House hearings and votes this week.

Donald Trump

Cheney informed the public that Trump knew his actions were illegal and would likely lead to violence.

"We have learned that President Trump and his team were warned in advance and repeatedly that the efforts they undertook to overturn the 2020 election would violate the law and our Constitution," she said. "They were warned that Jan. 6 could and likely would turn violent."

The Jan. 6 committee also released a Jan. 3 text written to then-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows implicating Trump in a pre-certification planning call.

Dan Scavino

Cheney's testimony at the Rules Committee meeting:

Mr. Scavino worked directly with President Trump to spread President Trump’s false message that the election was stolen and to recruit Americans to come to Washington with the false premise that January 6th would be an opportunity to “take back their country.”

This effort to deceive was widely effective and widely destructive. The Committee has many questions for Mr. Scavino about his political social media work for President Trump, including his interactions with an online forum called “The Donald” and with QAnon, a bizarre and dangerous cult.

Peter Navarro

More from the Rules Committee hearing:

Mr. Navarro will also be a key witness. He has written a book boasting about his role in planning and coordinating the activity of January 6th, and yet, as the Chairman noted, he does not have the courage to testify here.
We have many questions for Mr. Navarro—including about his communications with Roger Stone and Steve Bannon regarding the planning for January 6th. As a federal judge concluded last week: ‘Based on the evidence, the court finds it more likely than not that President Trump corruptly attempted to obstruct the Joint Session of Congress on January 6, 2021.’

Rudy Giuliani, former Trump attorney of meltdown infamy

Cheney also succinctly laid waste to sad-sack Rudy Giuliani.

"The election claims made by Donald Trump were so frivolous and so unfounded that the president’s lead lawyer did not just lose these cases, he lost his license to practice law," Cheney said.

GOP Colleagues

Cheney and GOP Rep. Jim Banks of Indiana, chair of the Republican Study Committee, exchanged barbs on the House floor after Banks accused Democrats of gleefully abusing their power.

“Today’s vote is not about wrongdoing, and it isn’t about anybody’s character, no matter what they say,” Banks said. “Today’s vote is about the character of this House. It’s about abusing the seat of our democracy to attack American democracy.”

Banks said that for Democrats, it “might feel really good—and in the vindictive sort of way—to vote to put their political opponents behind bars.”

Cheney quickly countered, “It feels sad, and it feels tragic that so many in my own party are refusing to address the constitutional crisis and the challenge that we face.”

A sad and tragic lot, indeed.

Stay tuned—there are bound to be more bombshells along the way. Cheney said more than 800 witnesses have now provided information to the panel, including a dozen former White House staffers. Ivanka Trump was one of them.