Last week, former Wyoming Representative Liz Cheney, who has been widely criticized within her party, was bestowed with one of the highest civilian honors, the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
This came after House Republicans had recommended her for criminal charges due to her role as vice chair of the now-defunct Select Committee on Jan. 6. President Joe Biden presented the award to Cheney alongside Representative Bennie Thompson, a Democrat from Mississippi, who chaired the controversial investigation into the Capitol riot.
According to The Federalist, the House Administration Subcommittee on Oversight, led by Representative Barry Loudermilk, a Republican from Georgia, released a comprehensive 130-page review of the Jan. 6 Committee's work in December. The review concluded that Cheney should face a criminal investigation for "witness tampering." The report stated, Evidence uncovered by the Subcommittee revealed that former Congresswoman Liz Cheney tampered with at least one witness, Cassidy Hutchinson, by secretly communicating with Hutchinson without Hutchinsons attorneys knowledge. This alleged misconduct occurred even as Cheney, as vice chair of the Jan. 6 panel, threatened legal action against anyone attempting to influence witness testimony.
The term "insurrection" was frequently used by Democrats on the Jan. 6 panel and beyond to describe the two hours of violence at the Capitol. Critics argue that this term was used as a politically charged phrase to frame former President Trump and his supporters as threats to democracy. However, no Jan. 6 defendants were ever charged and convicted of "insurrection."
In her 2023 memoir, Cheney wrote about the events of Jan. 6, 2021, stating, we almost lost our republic that day. Similarly, Chairman Thompson claimed in a 2022 public hearing that our system nearly failed and our democratic foundation was almost destroyed. These dramatic claims, however, lack substantial evidence. Lawmakers were quickly escorted to secure locations after the Capitol's security was breached, and Congress reconvened just hours later. The continuity of government was never in jeopardy, contrary to what the Jan. 6 Committee led their supporters to believe.
The Jan. 6 Committee concluded its investigation by recommending criminal charges against President Trump for allegedly inciting, assisting, or aiding and comforting an insurrection. This recommendation was based on the theory that Trump's speech at the White House on the day of the riot inspired his supporters to storm the Capitol. However, a careful review of the transcript from Trumps speech shows that he explicitly called for his supporters to protest peacefully and patriotically. Moreover, the mob at the Capitol had already breached the first barriers before Trump had finished speaking.
The Jan. 6 Committee claimed that Trump was not only indifferent to the violence but enthusiastic about it. This claim was based on testimony from the panels key witness, former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson. Hutchinson claimed in her public testimony that Trump approved of demonstrators who were demanding to hang the vice president. However, House investigators who reviewed the Jan. 6 Committees charges found no evidence that President Trump agreed with rioters chanting hang Mike Pence.'
Hutchinson also made the sensational claim that President Trump assaulted Secret Service personnel to take over a government vehicle and drive himself to the Capitol to join the rioters. This claim was immediately discredited by her own sources and was further undermined in the comprehensive review of the Jan. 6 Committees conduct. A new transcript with a Secret Service driver, which was kept under seal by Cheneys team, directly contradicted Hutchinsons story. The driver told investigators on the Jan. 6 panel, I did not see him reach. He never grabbed the steering wheel. I didnt see him, you know, lunge to try to get into the front seat at all.
In her memoir, Cheney accused Trump of failing to deploy the National Guard ahead of the electoral certification. She wrote, With the weight of the intelligence we received via Homeland Security, it is exceptionally difficult to believe that anyone in the White House with access to this information could have failed to recognize this obvious menace. However, Trump had insisted on local and congressional officials preparing for mass demonstrations by demanding the pre-emptive deployment of 10,000 troops from the National Guard. Cheneys committee concealed another transcript from a witness, which showed that then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi refused to accept federal reinforcements multiple times in the days leading up to the riot.
Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson challenged the Jan. 6 Committees narrative of an excessively violent demonstration when he aired additional footage from the Capitol. He said, But it turns out theres quite a bit of video you havent seen. And that video tells a very different story about what happened on Jan. 6. His team reviewed more than 40,000 hours of security footage, revealing a different picture of the demonstration at the Capitol than the few scenes exploited by the Jan. 6 Committee.
The New York Times corrected a story blaming Capitol rioters for the death of officer Brian Sicknick, but members of the Jan. 6 Committee never have. The D.C. medical examiners office concluded that Officer Sicknick died of natural causes. The only two people to die directly from the riot were female Trump supporters Ashli Babbitt, who was shot by a Capitol police officer, and Roseanne Boyland, who was trampled.
In the summer of 2022, House Democrats accused Rep. Loudermilk of giving reconnaissance tours ahead of the attack on the Capitol after viewing security footage of the Georgia lawmaker escorting constituents around the building. Loudermilk told Carlson, The FBI totally cleared them. The committee knew this before they actually made their accusations against me.
Then-Speaker Pelosi violated House rules when she banned minority representation on her Select Committee to investigate Jan. 6. This unprecedented move meant that Cheney had misled witnesses and federal agencies about the panels legitimate bipartisanship. The Select Committee was ostensibly established to investigate and report upon the objective facts and causes relating to the preparedness and response of the United States Capitol Police and other Federal, State, and local law enforcement in the course of the Capitol riot. Yet, Pelosis commission instead targeted private citizens who exercised their constitutional right of free assembly. The legitimacy of the committees actions has always been in question, as Congress is not one of the branches of government tasked with investigating alleged crimes of private citizens.
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