The American people deserve to know what happened during the assault on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, according to U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney.
The congressional committee the attack on the U.S. Capitol earlier this year held its first hearing on Tuesday with testimony from four officers who responded to the insurrection.
U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney, one of the members of the committee, began the hearing by thanking the witnesses for testifying about the attack that left multiple people dead and discussing why the investigation is so important.
“We cannot leave the violence of Jan. 6 – and its causes – uninvestigated,” she said Tuesday. “The American people deserve the full and open testimony of every person with knowledge of the planning and preparation for Jan. 6.”
Five people died during the incident, which saw armed individuals force their way into the Capitol while electoral votes from November’s general election were being certified.
“We must know what happened here at the Capitol. We must also know what happened every minute of that day in the White House, every phone call, every conversation, every meeting leading up to, during, and after the attack.” Cheney said. “Honorable men and women have an obligation to step forward. If those responsible are not held accountable, and if Congress does not act responsibly, this will remain a cancer on our Constitutional Republic, undermining the peaceful transfer of power at the heart of our democratic system. We will face the threat of more violence in the months to come, and another Jan. 6 every four years.”
She added the investigation should be non-partisan and noted that every person on the committee has sworn an oath to uphold the Constitution.
Cheney has been vocal in condemning the attack on the Capitol, even voting to impeach former President Donald Trump over allegations he incited the action with his comments shortly before the incident.
“America is great because we preserve our democratic institutions at all costs,” she concluded on Tuesday.
“Until Jan. 6, we were proof positive for the world that a nation conceived in liberty could long endure. But now, Jan. 6 threatens our most sacred legacy.”
Cheney’s vote to impeach Trump and her support for the investigative committee has resulted in criticism of the representative and she was voted out of her position as House Republican Conference chair in May.
Cheney was one of only two House Republicans to vote for establishing the select committee earlier this month.
In early July, U.S. Representatives voted 220-190 to create the special House committee after the U.S. Senate blocked legislation that would have created an outside, independent, bipartisan review commission to look into the Jan. 6 riots at the Capitol.
