Liz Cheney

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By Leo Wolfson, Cowboy State Daily

U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney joined the majority in the House on Friday in voting for the most wide-ranging gun control legislation approved in nearly 30 years.

While Cheney voted against the measure as it was originally approved by the House, she voted for the compromise version that was returned by the Senate.

“As a mother and a constitutional conservative, I’m proud to support this sensible bill that will protect our children and limit violence without infringing on law-abiding citizens’ Second Amendment rights,” Cheney said in a statement after casting her vote.

“Nothing in the bill restricts the rights of responsible gun owners. Period. I will always protect the Second Amendment,” she said.

U.S. Sens. John Barrasso and Cynthia Lummis voted against passing the bill out of the Senate on Thursday.

Hageman

Cheney’s vote was criticized immediately by Harriet Hageman, one of her opponents in the GOP primary for Wyoming’s lone U.S. House seat.

“Whatever Liz Cheney is doing with our only House seat, she certainly isn’t using it to represent the views and values of the people of Wyoming,” Hageman said in a press release.

“The lawful possession of firearms for hunting and self-defense is an integral part of our DNA in this state, and we don’t want our constitutional rights negotiated away. We all agree that mental health is an important issue that needs to be addressed, but we should not limit the rights of law-abiding citizens,” Hageman said.

Heads To Biden

The bipartisan legislation now headed for the desk of President Joe Biden enhances background checks for prospective gun buyers under 21 years old and closes the “boyfriend loophole” to extend prohibitions on gun ownership by those convicted of domestic violence to those who were dating their victims.

The law would also set aside $750 million in grants to encourage states to adopt “red flag laws,” which allow law enforcement officers, family members and friends to seek the confiscation of firearms from people they consider a danger to themselves or others.

Other sections of the law clarify the definition of a Federally Licensed Firearms Dealer, creates criminal penalties for straw purchases and gun trafficking and provides billions of dollars for mental health services.

The original version of the bill, which was opposed by Cheney, would also have raised the age at which people can buy semi-automatic rifles to 21 and have allowed local residents to pay individuals who surrender high-capacity ammunition magazines.

Balance

Cheney said the final version of the law balances safety concerns against Second Amendment rights.

“This legislation recognizes the importance of that right while making our schools safer, providing more tools for law enforcement, and expanding funding for mental health resources which is why I voted for it,” Cheney said.

State Sen. Anthony Bouchard, who is also running against Cheney and founded Second Amendment group Wyoming Gun Owners, described Cheney’s vote as “pandering” to Democrats in a Friday afternoon Facebook post.

Mark Jones, national director of hunters’ programs for Gun Owners of America, agreed with Bouchard’s assessment of Cheney’s vote, noting the incumbent on Thursday issued campaign literature telling people how to switch parties to vote for her in the GOP primary.

Jones also said his organization plans to challenge the legislation in court, alleging it violates the Second, Fourth and Fifth amendments to the U.S. Constitution.

“It’s regrettable that these lawmakers would ignore their oath to follow the Constitution in signing this legislation,” he said.

Lummis, Barrasso

In early discussions on the legislation, Lummis wavered from her staunch pro gun stance and expressed an openness to considering a package of bills that could have included changes to red flag laws and juvenile background checks. She said her statement came in response to calls from constituents asking for increased gun control measures.

However, the final bill approved in the Senate exceeded what Lummis believed was necessary, she said.

“Mental health needs to be addressed in this country, but this bill infringes on Americans’ Constitutional rights,” Lummis said on Twitter Thursday.

In a press release, Barrasso expressed similar sentiments.

“I am committed to finding solutions that focus on our nation’s mental health crisis and make schools safer for students and teachers,” Barrasso said in a Thursday night press release. “These solutions must also always protect the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding Americans.”

This legislation has been endorsed by both the Fraternal Order of Police and the National Sheriffs’ Association.

Moms Demand Action

Beth Howard, Wyoming legislative lead for Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, a national gun safety organization, said the legislation is a big win for their cause and praised Cheney for her vote.

“Liz Cheney is aware of what the vast majority of Wyoming and U.S. citizens see as necessary action,” she said.

Polling

A recent ABC/Ipsos poll showed that 70% Americans find that new legislation reducing gun violence should be prioritized over protecting gun rights.

The gun control movement gained steam in light of multiple mass shooting events in recent weeks that slayed dozens.

However, Hageman objected specifically to the “red flag” laws, saying they can be abused to deny gun ownership to responsible citizens.

Research on the effectiveness of such laws is mixed. One study found that one suicide was averted for every 10 to 20 gun seizures. Another found that these laws do not significantly reduce firearm violence.

Approval of the gun control legislation comes on the heels of Thursday’s Supreme Court decision affirming that the Second Amendment protects the right of law-abiding Americans to carry a firearm outside of the home. 

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By Leo Wolfson, political reporter
Leo@CowboyStateDaily.com

U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney on Monday laid out evidence she said showed initial efforts taken by former President Donald Trump to convince Americans the presidential election of 2020 was stolen from him by overwhelming fraud. 

Cheney, continuing her prominent role on the U.S. House committee hearing into the facts surrounding the U.S. Capitol riot of Jan. 6, 2021, said Trump refused to acknowledge the fact that many of the votes cast for the winner of the race, President Joe Biden, were sent by mail.

“The President understood even before the election that many more Biden voters had voted by mail – because President Trump ignored the advice of his campaign experts and told his supporters only to vote in person,” Cheney said. “Donald Trump knew before the election that the counting of those mail-in ballots in several states would not begin until late in the day and would not be complete for multiple days.

“This was expected, reported, and widely known,” she added.

Cheney’s comments came during the second public hearing held by the committee, which featured testimony from several federal officials and people close to the Trump re-election campaign.

Bill Stepien, final chairman of Trump’s reelection campaign, explained over video testimony that he informed Trump that absentee and mail-ballots still had to be counted after the polls had closed on election night. He said these explanations were not accepted by Trump, who later considered these ballots fraudulent. 

Stepien, now an advisor to the U.S. House campaign of Harriet Hageman, said he discouraged Trump from telling voters to only vote on election day but Trump did not accept this advice. 

Several former Trump team members, including those who echoed his claims that the election was stolen, testified against him on Monday.

Sidney Powell, a former Trump attorney who worked on his behalf to overturn the election, said “no reasonable person” would conclude that her statements made to support these efforts were “statements of facts.”

Former U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr said he never believed that the election had been affected by fraud.

“My opinion then and my opinion now is that the election was not stolen by fraud,” he told the committee.

Jeff Rosen, former acting attorney general under Trump, gave the committee a long list of unsupported claims communicated to him by Trump on how the election was rigged, including claims of suitcases and trucks filled with loads of ballots, double voting and voting by dead people.

Cheney said the testimony proved that even before the attack on the Capitol, there was no basis in fact for the claims the election was stolen.

“The Trump campaign legal team knew there was no legitimate argument – fraud, irregularities, or anything – to overturn the election,” she said. “And yet, President Trump went ahead with his plans for Jan. 6 anyway.”

Cheney said a federal court has found numerous credible sources to confirm the committee’s conclusion that there was no evidence of election fraud sufficient to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

“The Court’s opinion methodically documents each of the principal reasons for that conclusion, and I would urge all those watching to read it,” Cheney said. 

Twenty-two federal judges appointed by Trump and 24 state judges appointed by Republicans rejected claims Trump’s team made in court about voter fraud. 

Cheney said that Trump’s supporters are the only people currently paying the price for supporting the former president’s claims the election was stolen. She mentioned that people who attended the Jan. 6 invasion of the Capitol are on trial and in jail because they believed what Trump told them, even though Trump was told by his campaign and cabinet officials that he lost.

The committee also reported on Trump’s efforts to raise money with his claims of voter fraud, saying he had received $250 million in donations.

Cheney took a smaller role in the hearing than she did during the first day of hearings on Thursday, as U.S. Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-California, spoke for most of the hearing.

After her initial introductory comments, Cheney did not speak again until near the haring’s end. Then, she offered a preview of the next hearing, scheduled for Wednesday, by introducing a video clip of White House lawyer Eric Herschmann. 

In that clip, Herschmann said he reprimanded John Eastman, a lawyer advocating for the former president to keep fighting the election results.

“We have much more evidence to show the American people on this point than we can reasonably show in one hearing,” Cheney said.

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By Leo Wolfson, political reporter
Leo@CowboyStateDaily.com

U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney began her part of the primetime Jan. 6 committee hearing Thursday night by saying former President Trump “lit the flame”  and “summoned the mob” to the Capitol.

Cheney, vice chair of the House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack, took center stage after an opening statement from Mississippi Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson.  She started her presentation by reading a statement former President Donald Trump made in the hours following the Jan. 6 riot. In his Twitter post, Trump said, “These are the things and events that happen when a sacred landslide election victory is so unceremoniously and viciously stripped away from great patriots who have been badly and unfairly treated for so long.” 

“On this point, there is no room for debate,” Cheney said later in her opening remarks. “Those who invaded our Capitol and battled law enforcement for hours were motivated by what President Trump had told them: that the election was stolen, and that he was the rightful President. President Trump summoned the mob, assembled the mob and lit the flame of this attack.”

Trump doubled down on his position Thursday morning, describing Jan. 6 as “The greatest movement in our country to Make America Great Again,” in a social media post.

 “Over multiple months, Donald Trump oversaw and coordinated a sophisticated seven-part plan to overturn the presidential election and prevent the transfer of presidential power,” Cheney said. “In our hearings, you will see evidence of each element of this plan.”

 Cheney laid out a preview for what the public can expect over the course of the seven June hearings the Committee plans to hold. Thursday’s hearing centered on an overview of the major moments on Jan. 6.  The committee heard testimony from Capitol Police Officer Caroline Edwards and British filmmaker Nick Questad, who provided the committee footage of the event.

Cheney talked the audience through five video clips showing interviews with former members of Trump’s staff.  They spoke on Trump’s attempts to overthrow the results of the election and how he was advised against doing so.

“In our hearings, you will hear first-hand how the senior leadership of the Department of Justice threatened to resign, how the White House Counsel threatened to resign, and how they confronted Donald Trump and Jeff Clark in the Oval Office,” Cheney said. “The men involved, including Acting Attorney General Jeff Rosen and Acting Deputy Attorney General Richard Donoghue,  were appointed by President Trump. These men honored their oaths of office. They did their duty, and you will hear from them in our hearings.”

Cheney said the testimony of Trump’s staff proves he knows the election wasn’t stolen or rigged. She also had a message for her Republican colleagues who have defended Trump after the attack.

“Tonight, I say this to my Republican colleagues who are defending the indefensible- there will come a day when Donald Trump is gone, but your dishonor will remain,” she said.

Her congressional opponent Harriet Hageman has opposed the Jan. 6 Committee, describing it as a “witch hunt.” Trump has endorsed Hageman in her campaign against Cheney.

Some detractors of the committee like Arizona Senate candidate Blake Masters have laid the groundwork for conspiracy theories that the FBI and Capitol Police instigated or even organized the Jan. 6 events. No information related to the FBI was mentioned on Thursday.  

Cheney introduced a video with footage provided by Quested, showing what led up to Edwards getting knocked over and injured during the riot when a bike rack was pushed on top of her. Edwards hit her head on a concrete stair and lost consciousness. Once she came to, she got up and continued trying to hold the crowd back.

“It felt like they kept coming at us,” she said.

 Later in the day, she was sprayed with tear gas. Edwards expressed memories of a scene of “carnage” and “chaos” to the committee, involving “hours of hand-to-hand combat,” much more than any training had ever prepared her for.

“We understand how important your service is,” Cheney said to Edwards. “Thank you.”

Cheney said she and other members of Congress hid out under the building while law enforcement was outside.

The Committee presented testimony alleging members of the Oath Keepers had an organized plan for how they would breach the Capitol on Jan. 6. Once entering the building, members of the organization sought out Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) but were unable to find her. Members of the group infiltrated many areas within the Capitol including the Senate chambers, causing damage, and inciting more violence.

Cheney said the second hearing will involve evidence showing Trump and advisors knew he had legitimately lost the election, yet still engaged to spread misinformation. The third hearing, she said, will involve specific conversations where Trump is told he cannot overthrow the election, and the resignations and terminations that took place within his cabinet as a result. The fourth hearing will focus on former Vice President Mike Pence and Trump’s alleged efforts to pressure him not to count electoral votes on January 6.  

 The final three hearings will focus on Trump’s effort to pressure officials from certain states to question the results of the election and involvement he allegedly had on influencing the mob that marched on and breached the Capitol. 

 “As Americans, we all have a duty to ensure what happened on January 6th never happens again, to set aside partisan battles to stand together to perpetuate and preserve our great Republic,” Cheney said, finishing off her presentation.

 The event was televised live on most major television networks, but not Fox News.  The next hearing is at 10 a.m. Monday.

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By Leo Wolfson, Cowboy State Daily

U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney on Thursday officially filed the necessary paperwork with the secretary of state’s office declaring her intention to seek re-election to the U.S. House. 

Cheney made her filing public in a video she posted on YouTube Thursday afternoon. 

With patriotic music playing loudly in the background and a display of various scenes from Wyoming and of herself, the video reinforced her references to the “Code of the West.”

“If we set aside our founding principles for the politics of the moment, the miracle of our constitutional republic will slip away,” she said in the video. “We must not let that happen.”

In the video, Cheney referenced her sense of moral responsibility, saying she won’t “surrender to pressure or intimidation,” referencing “The Code of the West.” 

According to a spokesman for Cheney, the video was recorded in Cheyenne and produced by a Casper-based video production company.

Last year, Cheney spoke out against former President Donald Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 election results and voted for his impeachment on allegations he helped instigate the Jan. 6 Capitol attacks. 

In the video, Cheney asked the viewers “to reject the lies, to rise above the toxic politics, to defend our freedom, to do what we all know is right.”

“In Wyoming, we know what it means to ride for the brand,” she said. “Our brand is the United States Constitution.”

Cheney also mentioned her family’s long history in Wyoming, dating back to 1852. Her grandmother Edna Cheney was the first woman to serve as deputy sheriff in Natrona County.

“I am proud and grateful beyond measure to my parents, my grandparents, my great-grandparents, and all the men and women of courage and grit who came West seeking freedom and who have built and have served our great state,” she said. “Serving as Wyoming’s congresswoman is the highest honor in my professional life. 

Cheney moved to Jackson from Virginia in 2012 and challenged the late U.S. Sen Mike Enzi in his re-election bid.

Cheney said there is still much work to be done in Congress and asked voters to look to the future when casting their votes in the Aug. 16 primary. 

“Some things have to matter,” she said. “American freedom, the rule of law, our founding principles, the foundations of our Republic matter. What we do in this election in Wyoming matters.”

Cheney’s announcement comes just hours after her leading opponent, Harriet Hageman, filed her intentions to run. Both candidates waited until less than 48 hours remained in the filing period to finalize their intentions.

The delay in Cheney’s official filing should not be seen as too significant, according to former Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal.

“In U.S. House and Senate races it’s not uncommon to wait and see who files,” Freudenthal told Cowboy State Daily.

Hageman has been endorsed by Trump and will join him for a rally in Casper on Saturday.

Shortly after Cheney’s announcement, Hageman released from a poll commissioned by her campaign which shows 62% the 346 Wyoming voters questioned have a very unfavorable opinion of Cheney.

The survey, with a margin of error of 5.26%, also showed that 76% of Republicans questioned have a very unfavorable opinion of Cheney.

The survey conducted through phone calls and the internet was spearheaded by Brock McCleary of Cygnal, a pollster who previously worked on the 2020 Trump reelection campaign.

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By staff reports

U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney on Wednesday has tested positive for the Covid virus, she announced Wednesday morning.

“While I am fully vaccinated and boosted, I received a positive test result for COVID-19 early Wednesday morning,” Cheney said. “I am currently experiencing mild symptoms and will follow the CDC’s guidance as I continue to work on behalf of the people of Wyoming.

“I continue to pray for the people of Uvalde, Texas, especially the mothers and fathers who have lost their little children in this horrific attack,” she continued.

As of Wednesday morning, only Anthony Bouchard had formally filed as a candidate in the GOP primary for Wyoming’s lone U.S. House race.

Although Cheney has announced she’s running for re-election, she has yet to file. Nor has Cheyenne attorney Harriet Hageman. Trump is expected to reiterate that support during a rally with Hageman in Casper on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Cheney’s campaign is preparing for the rally with Trump by buying billboards “welcoming” the former president to the community.

The billboards either take a slap at competitor Harriet Hageman by reminding voters of Hageman’s endorsement of Cheney or of Hageman’s denouncement of Trump’s campaign when she called him a “racist.”

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By Ellen Fike, Cowboy State Daily

U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney is denying accusations that she leaked audio featuring a top congressional Republican calling on former President Donald Trump to resign in the wake of the attack at the U.S. Capitol last year.

The audio was released on Thursday night and featured Minority House Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-California, venting his frustrations about the then-current president during a call with fellow Republicans. Cheney has denied knowledge of how the audio was leaked to reporters.

“The select committee (investigating the events of Jan. 6, 2021) has asked Kevin McCarthy to speak with us about these events but he has so far declined,” a spokesman for Cheney said. “Rep. Cheney did not record or leak the tape and does not know how the reporters got it.” 

In the call, McCarthy revealed to his colleagues that Trump took “some responsibility” regarding the U.S. Capitol attack on Jan. 6, 2021.

“Again, the only discussions I would have him is that I think this will pass, and it would be my recommendation you should resign,” he said. “I mean that would be my take, but I don’t think he would take it, but I don’t know.”

Cheney was one of the Republicans on the phone call with McCarthy at the time.

“I asked [Trump] personally today, does he hold responsibility for what happened?” McCarthy said in the audio. “Does he feel bad about what happened? He told me he does have some responsibility for what happened. And he needs to acknowledge that.”

McCarthy also said that Trump bore responsibility for his words and actions leading up to the riot.

Cheney has regularly butted heads with both Trump and McCarthy in the year since the attack. She was one of the few Republicans to vote for Trump’s impeachment after the attack, claiming he incited the riot.

Cheney was ultimately removed from her position as House Conference chair last year by McCarthy in response to her impeachment vote.

McCarthy was called on by multiple Republican officials earlier this year to remove both Cheney and Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Illinois, from the House Republican Conference due to their positions on the committee investigating the incident. He did not do so.

Cheney has also received much backlash from Republicans because of her appointment to the committee, ultimately being censured by the Republican National Committee earlier this year. The Wyoming Republican Party has voted to no longer recognize the representative as a Republican due to her actions over the last year.

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By Ellen Fike, Cowboy State Daily

U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney was one of five people named this week to receive the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation’s “Profile in Courage” award.

The library foundation announced Wednesday that the five individuals, who also include Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, will be honored May 29 “for their courage to protect and defend democracy in the United States and abroad.”

Cheney’s selection was hailed by a Wyoming legislator.

“When you pair her up with Volodymyr Zelenskyy, there’s clearly proof she’s standing on her own convictions and not just standing on the Republican platform and trying to stay in Trump’s favor like so many others are doing,” said state Rep. Landon Brown, R-Cheyenne.

Other Profile in Courage recipients are Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers and Wandrea “Shaye” Moss, an elections department worker from Georgia.

Cheney thanked the foundation for the honor on Thursday and reflected on words Kennedy delivered during his inaugural address in 1961, “In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger.”

“Today, we stand at another hour of maximum danger in the cause of freedom,” Cheney said. “The war between Russia and Ukraine is a battle of good vs. evil, freedom vs. tyranny. President Zelenskyy and the Ukrainian people are teaching a new generation of Americans what our founding fathers learned first-hand: absolute and uncompromising courage in the face of tyranny.”

She added that Americans have also seen how fragile democratic institutions can be and have learned those institutions must be protected by every person in the nation.

“If we do not stand for truth, the rule of law and our Constitution, if we set aside our founding principles for the politics of the moment, the miracle of our constitutional republic will slip away,” Cheney said.

The foundation said Cheney was selected due to her willingness to stand up against former President Donald Trump’s false claims about the 2020 presidential election being “stolen” from him. Cheney voted to impeach Trump following the riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and she has been heavily criticized for that vote in certain Republican circles ever since.

“Cheney received numerous death threats after casting her vote in favor of impeachment, and yet refused to take the politically expedient course that most of her party embraced,” the foundation said. “Because she would not remain silent or ignore the events of Jan. 6, Cheney’s congressional colleagues stripped her of her leadership position in the GOP caucus.”

Brown told Cowboy State Daily on Thursday that Cheney was more than deserving of this honor.

He added he believes Cheney’s selection for the award will boost her status both in Wyoming and nationally and help her win the Republican primary election in August. Some of her opponents include Cheyenne attorney Harriet Hageman and state Sen. Anthony Bouchard, R-Cheyenne.

However, he added he believed Cheney already has the race won.

“She’s clearly got the votes here,” Brown said. “Yes, Trump carried the state, but that doesn’t mean who voted for Trump is going to vote for him again, or Harriet.”

Trump endorsed Hageman not long after her campaign announcement last fall.

The Profile in Courage award was created in 1989 by members of Kennedy’s family in order to honor him and recognize and celebrate the qualities of political courage he admired most.

The award recognizes a public official, or officials, at the federal, state or local level whose actions demonstrate the qualities of politically courageous leadership in the spirit of Kennedy’s 1957 Pulitzer Prize-winning book, “Profiles in Courage.”

A bipartisan committee reviews all nominations and selects the recipient(s) of the award. The committee currently consists of members such as political strategist David Axelrod, Kennedy’s daughter Caroline Kennedy and former U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Missouri.

Former recipients of the Profile in Courage award include former Presidents Barack Obama, George H.W. Bush and Gerald Ford, U.S. Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-California and the late congressman John Lewis.

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By Ellen Fike, Cowboy State Daily

Rudy Giuliani, the former attorney for President Donald Trump, came under fire this week from U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney, who criticized him for promoting the former president’s claims of election tampering.

Cheney, during a speech on the House floor Wednesday, noted that Giuliani’s adherence to Trump’s claims cost him his license to practice law.

“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.

“The New York Supreme Court found ‘There is uncontroverted evidence that Mr. Giuliani communicated demonstrably false and misleading statements to courts, lawmakers, and the public at large in his capacity as lawyer for former President Donald J. Trump and the Trump campaign in connection with Trump’s failed effort at reelection in 2020.’”

Cheney’s comments came as the U.S. House voted Wednesday to hold two former Trump aides — Peter Navarro and Dan Scavino — after they refused to comply with subpoenas issued by the House select committee investigating the U.S. Capitol insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021.

Cheney is one of two Republicans serving on the select committee, for which she has received much criticism from fellow Republicans, both in Wyoming and nationally.

Giuliani was not the only person that Cheney criticized during her short floor speech on Wednesday. She also directed pointed remarks at her House colleagues who continue to support Trump following the insurrection and his subsequent impeachment.

“Those in this chamber who continue to embrace the former president and his dangerous and destructive lies, ought to take a good hard look at themselves,” she said. “At a moment of real danger to our republic, when the need for fidelity to our Constitution is paramount, they have abandoned their oaths in order to perform for Donald Trump. That will be their legacy.”

The House voted 220 to 203 to hold the two aides in contempt.

Cheney has become an unpopular figure among many Republicans who opposed her 2021 vote to impeach Trump on allegations he spurred protesters at a rally to break into the Capitol and disagreed with her frequent criticism of him since then. She was removed from her position as House Conference chair last year after voting for the impeachment and she was censured by the Republican National Committee in February for serving on the Jan. 6 committee.

Trump has since endorsed Cheney’s congressional opponent, Harriet Hageman, for the GOP primary election for Wyoming’s lone U.S. House seat to held in August.

The Wyoming Republican Party’s central committee has voted to no longer recognize Cheney as a member of the party.

Prior to her impeachment vote, Cheney voted with Trump more than 90% of the time.

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By Ellen Fike, Cowboy State Daily

U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney on Tuesday criticized her congressional colleagues who seem to be more interested in drawing attention to themselves than actually solving problems.

Cheney, speaking during a nonpolitical discussion on American elections in Jackson, blamed partisan fissures in Congress in part on politicians who make a spectacle of themselves.

“Performance politics is a huge problem, where members are going into these hearings because they know the video cameras are on C-SPAN,” she said. “They know the minute-and-a-half video clip that they want to get out of it that they can put over on Twitter, and then they can flame the other side.”

Civility was a major topic of conversation during the gathering on Tuesday that was attended by both Democrats and Republicans as well as supporters of Cheney and Harriet Hageman, one of her challengers in the GOP primary for Wyoming’s lone U.S. House seat.

One of the biggest issues encouraging performative politics, Cheney said, is that it is successful, at least financially. Members of Congress spend much of their time raising funds for re-election, and by making waves online, politicians can bring in more donations.

“You look at some of the political fundraising notes that go out these days, and they’re just horrible, stuff you would never ever say to a person’s face,” Cheney said. “But you’re saying it to hundreds of thousands of people as a member of Congress so that you can get them to open up their wallets and give you $25.

“This is the people who are playing the game, the people who are seeing how many ‘likes’ they can get on social media, the people who are fundraising off of the outrageous things they have said and done, those people get a lot of reinforcement,” she continued. “It has to be our job to give reinforcement to the other (members of Congress).”

There is an immense amount of pressure among both Democrats and Republicans to avoid working together in Congress, as they are always strategizing to get more people on their side of the aisle elected, Cheney said.

“People that you’re likely to work with are often the people on the other side of the aisle who are the most vulnerable members, they maybe represent swing districts and that’s why you might have some issues in common with them,” she said. “The leadership on both sides is telling the members, ‘Don’t work with those people. We want our guy re-elected or elected.’ So there are all sorts of incentives that pressure against working together.”

Cheney noted that partisanship and vitriol in Congress are not new in the United States. But she added she felt it is still important to encourage civility among Democrats and Republicans.

She also said that regardless of whether Democrat or Republican, elected officials should always think about how important it is to take the role seriously, since they are facing “grave issues.” She also urged voters to elect “serious people” to these positions.

“They have to be worthy of the responsibility and the obligation of governing in this republic, and they have to be up to the tasks and the challenges we face,” Cheney said. “So, when you’re casting your vote, when you’re thinking about who to vote for, one of the things that’s most important for us to do is to incentivize serious people. There are a lot of people, too many people, in Congress today on both sides of the aisle who are not serious, who don’t do their homework and who treat politics like it’s a game.”

Additionally, she said that as an elected official, she does not get to pick and choose what portions of the U.S. Constitution she likes and dislikes, and which she will defend and which she won’t.

“If I won’t defend the 12th Amendment, if I won’t defend that the plain meaning in the text of the 12th Amendment, then how can I defend the First Amendment? And how can I defend the Second Amendment?” she said. “The Constitution is our shield. And when you think about what it means, and the responsibility that we all have, I think it’s really important for us to recognize that we don’t get to have the debates about substance and about policy if we abandon the Constitution.”

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By Ellen Fike, Cowboy State Daily

President Joe Biden’s administration should ban the import of Russian uranium, U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney told Wyoming reporters on Wednesday.

Cheney, speaking during a telephone conference, said she was working on legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives that would urge Biden to ban the use of Russian uranium in the United States.

“We need to be clear that the United States cannot be dependent on Russia for uranium,” she said. “We also need to have a uranium reserve. Congress authorized the establishment of a uranium reserved about 18 months ago and we have seen no progress on that.”

She added that the United States need to work on again being capable of enriching its own uranium. While she complimented the Biden administration for moving to ban Russian oil imports, she thought this should be extended to the full energy sector.

TerraPower, the company planning to install a small nuclear reactor in Kemmerer, told Cowboy State Daily last month that it has no choice but to fuel its plant with nuclear fuel rods from Russia, but company officials said they are also working to cultivate domestic uranium sources.

“We can’t be dependent on our adversary, either for the production of uranium or its enrichment,” Cheney said Wednesday. “In Wyoming, we’re really blessed with tremendous uranium reserves and we need to be sure we’re utilizing Wyoming uranium, not Russian.”

A Cheney spokesperson told Cowboy State Daily that the representative has always supported ending the United States’ dependence on Russian uranium.

“Putin’s attack on Ukraine reinforces how critical it is that America stop importing Russian uranium and increase our own domestic production,” the spokesperson said Wednesday. “She has worked to keep uranium on the critical minerals list and establish a uranium reserve. She has urged the Biden administration to immediately stand-up the uranium reserve and take advantage of other feasible paths available to ensure advanced nuclear reactors have access to the uranium they need.”

The spokesperson did not address how TerraPower’s “Natrium” plant would be fueled if Russian uranium imports were banned.

Earlier this week, Gov. Mark Gordon made similar remarks during a news conference.

“Currently our nuclear resources come from Russia, and we need to make sure that we have a domestic source of uranium just like we used to,” he said. “We’re very anxious to see the project move forward. We’re really hoping that this helps to revitalize Wyoming’s very important uranium industry.”

The Natrium power plant, a “next generation” nuclear plant, in slated to be built in Wyoming by 2027 or 2028. The reactor is expected to generate 345 megawatts of power.

The Natrium power plant will use fuel rods manufactured with HALEU metallic fluid. This uranium will allow the reactor to operate more efficiently and reduces the volume of waste produced.

In addition to trying to build up American producers of HALEU, TerraPower is investing in an American company to produce the fuel rods, officials said.

According to project estimates, approximately 2,000 workers will be needed for plant construction at the project’s peak. Once the plant is operational, approximately 250 people will support day-to-day activities, including plant security.

On other issues, Cheney, who spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy by Zoom on Wenesday said she was impressed with the Ukrainian leader’s grace in such a stressful time and added the U.S. needs to back up the Ukraine in its battle with Russia.

“He…showed a video that really illustrated what major Ukrainian cities looked like three or four weeks ago…and it looks like towns all over Wyoming,” she said. “We should make sure we are providing support for the Ukrainians in this battle.”

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By Ellen Fike, Cowboy State Daily

U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney disagreed with officials who have called for the United States to stay out of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, saying isolationism rarely works well for the United States.

During an appearance on “Face the Nation” on Sunday, Cheney offered her thoughts regarding some Republican politicians, particularly U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Missouri, and Ohio congressional candidate and author J.D. Vance, who have said they do not care what happens to Ukraine and that the U.S. should not intervene.

Cheney, however, told host Margaret Brennan she disagreed.

“We’ve been down that road before. We’ve seen isolationism in both parties and it’s always been wrong and it’s always been dangerous,” Cheney said.

“American cannot defend and maintain our own freedom and security if we think that we’re simply going to withdraw from the world and not lead,” she said. “Anyone who thinks that U.S. freedom and security is going to be maintained if we take a step back and don’t lead, you simply need to look at what’s happening in Ukraine and recognize that those who fill the void when the U.S. steps away are people like the Russians, the Chinese, the Iranians.”

“The idea that the world will be safe, that America will be able to (be) safe and free with an isolationist approach is wrong,” she said.

Boycotts

Ukraine was invaded by Russia late last week, generating strong reactions across the globe. Russia and many of its products, including vodka, are being boycotted or outright banned in some countries due to the invasion.

Cheney also called for the U.S. to stop importing Russian oil, and to sanction Russian President Vladimir Putin, Russian oligarchs and their families.

“I’d like to see the oil industry affected,” she said. “I’d like to see very clear that…the United States ought to be looking at ourselves frankly, as an arsenal of energy for the world, in the way that in World War II, we were an arsenal of democracy. We ought to be an arsenal of energy, so we ought to be unleashing our own energy resources.”

She added that the United States needed to make it “very clear” that it stands with Ukraine during this invasion and conflict, as well as to be clear that the U.S. won’t be intimidated by Russia and these tactics.

Trump

Brennan pointed out that former President Donald Trump’s first impeachment trial in January and February of 2020 was triggered by a complaint from a U.S. intelligence official who said Trump was withholding aid to Ukraine in order to win political favors. Brennan asked if Cheney regretted voting not to impeach Trump then. Trump was acquitted.

“I don’t regret my vote,” Cheney said. “I think any impeachment vote has got to be one that is based very clearly on the evidence. I think that we certainly have learned a lot from that first impeachment trial that we are using as we move forward in the Jan. 6 committee.”

Cheney noted that Trump spent much of his presidency attacking the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, but pointed out how “crucially” important the alliance is.

“One thing that President Trump got right was increased spending for the military,” she said. “It is very important for us…as we look at Putin’s nuclear threat, we cannot adopt policies like a no-first-use nuclear policy. We can’t accept defense spending that is insufficient to defend our interests. We have to make sure we are recognizing here at home what is important and necessary to defend ourselves.”

Unity

Cheney’s praise of Trump was just one example of political enemies coming together in a time of strife.

U.S. Sens. Mark Warner, D-Virginia, and Rob Portman, R-Ohio, said during a “Meet the Press” appearance on Sunday that Putin’s moves have actually strengthened NATO and Congress.

“He thought this [invasion] would divide NATO,” Portman said. “In fact, it strengthened NATO and brought us together in ways we haven’t seen in years.”

Hageman/Knapp

Cheney’s congressional competitor Denton Knapp also voiced his support for Ukraine over the weekend.

“Wyoming and the United States support Ukraine and condemn the Russian invasion. God’s hands guide us to peace,” he said.

Congressional candidate Harriet Hageman told Cowboy State Daily late Monday that Putin’s “continued illegal assault” on Ukraine was a crime against the peace-loving world and has already cost too many lives.

“We must use every sanction at our disposal, which is why it is extremely disappointing to see President Biden refuse to hit Putin where it hurts most – Russia’s energy industries,” Hageman said. “But Biden knows that if he impeded Putin’s ability to sell oil, natural gas, and coal, he would have to allow American energy production to increase to compensate. The radical environmentalists who run the Biden administration won’t let him do that, so ultimately it is the climate activists who are making our foreign policy decisions.”

But at the same time, Hageman objected to Cheney’s criticism of calls to stay out of the dispute.

“It’s also alarming to see that Liz Cheney simply can’t resist falling back into her interventionist ways. In her remarks, she came awfully close to calling for American military intervention, which would be extraordinarily dangerous and something that I strongly oppose,” Hageman said. “We must do whatever we can to support the Ukrainians, but inserting American troops squarely into the conflict would be a horrible idea.”

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By Ellen Fike, Cowboy State Daily

Republican National Committee members voted on Friday to formally censure U.S. Reps. Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger for their work on the House committee investigating the riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

According to media reports, the RNC members “overwhelmingly” voted to censure the two representatives during their meeting in Utah.

Kinzinger R-Illinois, has announced that he will not run for office after his term ends, and Cheney has not formally announced her campaign for re-election for Wyoming’s lone House of Representatives seat.

The resolution adopted by the national committee accused the representatives, through their work on the committee, of participating in a “Democrat-led persecution of ordinary citizens who engaged in legitimate political discourse.”

RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel said that wording in the censure was not referring to the riots at the Capitol but rather the actions taken by the House committee investigating the attacks.

Initially, the resolution proposed removing Cheney and Kinzinger from the House Republican Conference, but ultimately this was changed Thursday to a formal censure.

The resolution was altered due to concerns that the criticism of Cheney and Kinzinger for serving on the committee had gone “too far.”

The Washington Post also reported that in addition to the censure, the RNC made plans to fund a primary challenge against Cheney in Wyoming. State Republican leaders passed a special rule to recognize Harriet Hageman as the party’s presumptive congressional nominee.

Not all congressional Republicans supported the censure, though.

“Shame falls on a party that would censure persons of conscience, who seek truth in the face of vitriol,” U.S. Sen. Mitt Romney said. “Honor attaches to Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger for seeking truth even when doing so comes at great personal cost.”

Cheney was ousted from her post as House Republican Conference chair last May following her vote to impeach former President Donald Trump for the role he allegedly played in inciting the riot. She has also faced much criticism from Republicans due to her refusal to fall in line with the rest of her party.

Cheney voted with Trump more than 90% of the time before her impeachment vote.

“The leaders of the Republican Party have made themselves willing hostages to a man who admits he tried to overturn a presidential election and suggests he would pardon Jan. 6 defendants, some of whom have been charged with seditious conspiracy,” Cheney said Thursday ahead of the resolution vote.

“I’m a constitutional conservative and I do not recognize those in my party who have abandoned the Constitution to embrace Donald Trump. History will be their judge. I will never stop fighting for our constitutional republic. No matter what.”

A number of conservative officials sent a letter to House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-California, last month, asking him to remove Cheney and Kinzinger from the House Republican Conference.

“As part of Pelosi’s team, Reps. Cheney and Kinzinger have deliberately sought to undermine the privacy and due process of their fellow Republicans, and those of private citizens, with improperly issued subpoenas and other investigatory tactics designed not to pursue any valid legislative end, but merely to exploit for the sake of political harassment and demagoguery,” the letter said.

The letter said that as elected representatives, the two should be free to serve in the House, but no longer with the privileges granted to members of the conference.

The chairwoman of the Republican National Committee, Ronna McDaniel, still recognizes U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney as a member of the Republican Party, despite the fact the Wyoming Republican Party has voted not to do so.

Cheney spokesman Jeremy Adler pointed to the comments she made Thursday as her remarks for the official censure on Friday when asked for a comment on Friday.

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By Ellen Fike, Cowboy State Daily

A resolution under consideration by the national Republican Party that was initially intended to expel U.S. Reps. Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger from the House Republican Conference has been changed to call for a censure of the two.

The resolution had been reportedly “watered down” by Republican National Committee members during their annual winter meeting in Salt Lake City, which was held Thursday and was to continue Friday.

“The leaders of the Republican Party have made themselves willing hostages to a man who admits he tried to overturn a presidential election and suggests he would pardon Jan. 6 defendants, some of whom have been charged with seditious conspiracy,” Cheney said Thursday.

“I’m a constitutional conservative and I do not recognize those in my party who have abandoned the Constitution to embrace Donald Trump. History will be their judge. I will never stop fighting for our constitutional republic. No matter what.”

The resolution was altered due to concerns that the attempt Cheney and Kinzinger for serving on the committee investigating the riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, had gone “too far.”

If the resolution is approved sometime late Thursday, all 168 RNC members would vote on it Friday. A censure is a formal expression of disapproval with no binding effect.

Cheney was ousted from her post as House Republican Conference chair last May following her vote to impeach former President Donald Trump for the role he allegedly played in inciting the riot. She has also faced much criticism from Republicans due to her refusal to fall in line with the rest of her party.

Cheney voted with Trump more than 90% of the time before her impeachment vote.

A number of conservative officials sent a letter to House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-California, last month, asking him to remove Cheney and Kinzinger from the House Republican Conference.

“As part of Pelosi’s team, Reps. Cheney and Kinzinger have deliberately sought to undermine the privacy and due process of their fellow Republicans, and those of private citizens, with improperly issued subpoenas and other investigatory tactics designed not to pursue any valid legislative end, but merely to exploit for the sake of political harassment and demagoguery,” the letter said.

The letter said that as elected representatives, the two should be free to serve in the House, but no longer with the privileges granted to members of the conference.

The chairwoman of the Republican National Committee, Ronna McDaniel, still recognizes U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney as a member of the Republican Party, despite the fact the Wyoming Republican Party has voted not to do so.

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By Ellen Fike, Cowboy State Daily

More than 50 members of the Republican Party’s National Committee are supporting a proposal to remove U.S. Reps. Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger from the House Republican Conference.

The proposal will be introduced this week during the RNC’s winter conference in Salt Lake City.

“The leaders of the Republican Party have made themselves willing hostages to a man who admits he tried to ‘overturn’ a presidential election and suggests he would pardon Jan. 6 defendants, some of whom have been charged with seditious conspiracy,” Cheney said this week. “I’m a constitutional conservative and I do not recognize those in my party who have abandoned the Constitution to embrace Donald Trump. History will be their judge. I will never stop fighting for our constitutional republic. No matter what.” 

The resolution is intended as a punishment for Cheney and Kinzinger for their positions on the committee investigating the riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. If approved by a resolutions committee meeting on Thursday, all 168 RNC members would vote on it Friday, according to CNN.

“We want to make a statement. This is an inquisition, and we just feel like they are trying to dig up anything they can but that it’s one-sided,” Jonathan Barnett, a national committeeman from Arkansas who is among the resolution’s co-sponsors, told CNN Tuesday. “We don’t understand Liz and Adam. There’s just a lot of frustration with the Jan. 6 committee and we don’t think there’s any representation on the Republican side.”

Cheney was ousted from her post as House Republican Conference chair last May following her vote to impeach former President Donald Trump for the role he allegedly played in inciting the riot. She has also faced much criticism from Republicans due to her refusal to fall in line with the rest of her party.

Cheney voted with Trump more than 90% of the time before her impeachment vote.

A number of conservative officials sent a letter to House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-California, last month, asking him to remove Cheney and Kinzinger from the House Republican Conference.

“As part of Pelosi’s team, Reps. Cheney and Kinzinger have deliberately sought to undermine the privacy and due process of their fellow Republicans, and those of private citizens, with improperly issued subpoenas and other investigatory tactics designed not to pursue any valid legislative end, but merely to exploit for the sake of political harassment and demagoguery,” the letter said.

The letter said that as elected representatives, the two should be free to serve in the House, but no longer with the privileges granted to members of the conference.

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By Jim Angell, Cowboy State Daily

U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney’s fundraising campaign raised more money from individual donations from five other states and Washington, D.C., in the first nine months of 2021 than it did in Wyoming, according to federal reports.

Federal Election Commission showed that Wyoming individuals contributed $176,530 to Cheney’s campaign through the first three quarters of the year, which ended Sept. 30, less than individuals in California, Virginia, New York, Florida, Texas or Washington, D.C.

California residents donated $428,807, followed by Virginia at $351,860, New York at $299,570, Florida at $291,485, Texas at $220,844 and Washington, D.C., at $191,038. The contributions from those six areas made up more than 46.7% of all of Cheney’s individual donations through the nine-month period.

Cheney has not yet formally announced whether she will seek re-election.

Meanwhile, FEC reports filed Monday showed that of the almost $7.2 million raised by Cheney throughout 2021, $2 million was raised in the final quarter of the year, which the Cheney campaign said was a record for her fundraising efforts in a single quarter.

Individual contributions continue to make up the bulk of Cheney’s fundraising at $5.6 million of the $7.2 million she has raised.

Harriet Hageman, one of Cheney’s presumptive GOP primary challengers, raised $443,450 in the last quarter of the year to more than double the amount of money raised since the beginning of her campaign to $745,381.

The reports showed that most of Hageman’s contributions throughout her campaign, $718,381, also came from individuals, while $21,000 came from political action committees.

Hageman entered the race for Wyoming’s lone U.S. House seat in September, winning the endorsement of former President Donald Trump hours later.

After Hageman entered the race, several other candidates stopped their campaigns, including state Rep. Chuck Gray, R-Casper, who raised $1,371 in the last quarter of the year despite having withdrawn from the race. His report showed he also returned $17,700 in donations during the quarter.

State Sen. Anthony Bouchard, R-Cheyenne, who remained in the race after Hageman’s entry, raised $25,477 during the last quarter of the year, his reports said, bringing his fundraising total to $638,338 since he began his campaign. All of Bouchard’s contributions have come from individuals, the report said.

EDITOR’S NOTE: This story originally reported in error that donations from Wyoming individuals for the campaign of U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney in 2021 ran behind donations from individuals in five other states and Washington, D.C.
In fact, the reporting period for in-state and out-of state donations covered the first nine months of 2021, ending on Sept. 30.
The mistake was the result of reporter error.
All of the other fundraising figures reported in the story covered the full year.

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By Jimmy Orr, Cowboy State Daily

The message is something the Liz Cheney office has been reminding voters for nearly a year now: Wyoming’s congresswoman is a conservative and a staunch one at that.

But ever since Cheney stood up to Trump after the January 6 riots, detractors have tried to paint Cheney as a liberal or a RINO — despite her conservative voting record.

If the results of a straw poll held at a statewide Republican gathering over the weekend are any indication of what party activists choose to believe, the RINO label is working as Republican challenger Harriett Hageman trounced the incumbent 59 – 6 when asked which candidate they preferred in the 2022 primary.

Ask many conservatives what they really believe, however, and a different viewpoint emerges: reality. Cheney voted with Trump 93% of the time he was in office. In the 117th Congress, Cheney’s rating was 96%.

Far right wing Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Trump disciple and an outspoken critic of Cheney, acknowledged Cheney’s credentials while appearing on former Trump advisor Steven Bannon’s podcast on Friday.

Taylor Greene was explaining to Bannon’s listeners why Democrats shouldn’t cross over and vote for Cheney in the primary this summer.

“Let me remind everyone, while Democrats are being fooled by Liz Cheney right now, they should remember that she is not a Democrat,” Taylor Green said.

“As a matter of fact, she has a very conservative voting record. More conservative than some of my Republican colleagues, by the way,” she said.

Although Bannon’s audience is limited, this is the Internet age. Don’t be surprised if this clip from the Georgia congresswoman finds its way circulating to a much larger audience through advertising later this year.

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By Ellen Fike, Cowboy State Daily

Wyoming’s Republican Party will conduct two straw polls during its next central committee meeting to address comments made by U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney that some members of the party are radicals.

The party announced Saturday that during its next central committee meeting on Jan. 22, it will conduct straw polls to determine whether anyone supports Cheney’s comments and to gauge support for Cheney and her opponents in the GOP primary for Wyoming’s lone U.S. House seat.

Party officials, in a statement, predicted the poll’s results will likely not show support for Cheney.

“Spoiler alert: the straw polls will very likely demonstrate the vast majority condemns her views and will be voting for someone else,” party officials said over the weekend.

This all stems from comments Cheney made during a Fox News appearance on Thursday.

“There are people in the state party apparatus of my home state who are quite radical. And some of those same people include people who were here on Jan. 6, include a party chair who has toyed with the idea of secession,” she said during the interview. “So, there is a very radical element of the Republican Party in the same way that there is a radical element of the Democratic Party.”

Wyoming Republican Party chairman Frank Eathorne made comments about Wyoming seceding from the union last year during an appearance on former White House official Steve Bannon’s podcast.

“We are straight talking, focused on the global scene, but we’re also focused at home. Many of these Western states have the ability to be self-reliant, and we’re keeping eyes on Texas too, and their consideration of possible secession. They have a different state constitution than we do as far as wording, but it’s something we’re all paying attention to,” Eathorne said at the time.

A recent WyoFile article revealed that Eathorne and several other Republicans in Wyoming, were members of the Oath Keepers, a far-right, anti-government extremist group.

In the Saturday post, Wyoming GOP officials said that Cheney was welcome to continue her “foolish ploy” of picking fights with the majority of the party and “accuse the vast majority of being deplorables and radicals.”

The party also said Cheney was welcome to attend the central committee meeting on Jan. 22, and that the committee would have a chair available for her, although officials did not expect her to attend.

“We don’t expect her to attend this time either since she practically has to sneak into the state unannounced to avoid picketers, protesters, and outraged constituents. In fact, her behavior suggests that she is afraid of her constituents,” party officials said. “The Wyoming Republican Party is not. Anytime Ms. Cheney wants to come and show us her ‘proof,’ we’ll be here, among Wyoming’s grassroots Republicans, who tell us that our Representative does not ‘represent’ them.”

Cheney and the Wyoming Republican Party have been locked in battle for the last year, since she voted to impeach former President Donald Trump on allegations he incited the riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

The state party, as well as many of Wyoming’s county Republican parties, have voted to no longer recognize Cheney as a Republican due to her actions. She was also removed from her position as House Conference chair due to voting in opposition to many of the rest of her congressional colleagues.

“She can also continue to engage in the politics of personal destruction with other Republicans – which is her specialty and only real qualification to sit on the farcical January 6th Commission – but that is unlikely to improve her position in the polls,” Wyoming GOP officials said Saturday. “CNN will not be able to sell that ‘deplorables’ tripe in Wyoming and save Ms. Cheney from an embarrassing defeat.”

Cheney spokesman Jeremy Adler on Monday told Cowboy State Daily that the representative stood by her comments.

“She has always been a conservative Republican,” Adler said. Like many other Republicans across Wyoming, she is deeply troubled by those members of our state party who have taken dangerous, and in some cases unconstitutional positions, such as advocating for secession. After the 2020 election, former President Trump ignored the rulings of more than 60 courts, went to war with the rule of law, and defied the plain text of our Constitution. These actions culminated with a violent attack on our Capitol on January 6th, 2021. Liz ran for office as a Constitutional Conservative; she cannot condone what happened on January 6th, and she will never abandon her conservative principles.”

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By Ellen Fike, Cowboy State Daily

U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney commemorated the one year anniversary of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by telling “Today Show” host Savannah Guthrie that threats to democracy are still active.

Cheney held a number of interviews on Thursday to discuss her work on the U.S. House committee investigating the events leading up to the attack and the event itself. She said on “Today” that the threat to democracy was still occurring due to people believing false election claims that President Joe Biden “stole” it from former President Donald Trump.

“Former President Trump continues to make the same claims that he knows caused violence on Jan. 6, and it’s very important, if you look at what’s happening today in my party, in the Republican Party,” Cheney said Thursday. “Rather than reject what happened on the 6th, reject the lies about the election and make clear that a president who engaged in those activities can never be president again.

“Unfortunately, too many in my own party are embracing that former president, are looking the other way, are minimizing the danger,” she continued. “That’s how democracies die, and we simply cannot let that happen.”

She noted that the U.S. came “very close” to seeing a violent insurrection to overturn the results of the general election of November 2020, but the institutions survived due to people who were willing to stand up against pressure from Trump, including state elected officials, U.S. Department of Justice officials and the police officers who held off the protestors one year ago.

Five people died as a result of the Capitol attack last year.

Cheney also told Guthrie that the Jan. 6 committee has unearthed new information in every single aspect of the investigation.

“The committee is absolutely determined to ensure that we understand the entire plot, the entire plan to overthrow the election to really overturn the rule of law,” Cheney said. “You know, we had over 60 courts in this country that ruled against the claims the former president was making, and yet he rejected those rulings and attempted to overturn the will of the people. That simply cannot happen in the United States.”

As of Thursday, the committee has interviewed more than 300 witnesses and reviewed more than 35,000 pages of documents.

The representative also discussed Trump’s movements between the time of his rally where he called on his supporters to march on the Capitol and when he released a video statement telling the rioters to go home, something she discussed over the weekend with ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos.

“We now have first-hand testimony about the extent to which he was watching television and was refusing to ask people to stop, ask them to go home,” Cheney said.

Guthrie pointed out that the committee is attempting to get outtakes from Trump’s video calling off the rioters, previous versions he recorded before the final recording was released. Cheney said the committee is “very engaged” with litigation against Trump right now.

Cheney declined to specify whether the committee would make a criminal case against Trump.

“There are important questions in front of the committee, such as whether or not through his action or inaction, President Trump attempted to obstruct an official proceeding of Congress, attempted to delay the count of electoral votes,” Cheney said.

Cheney also called former Vice President Mike Pence a “hero” for the way he braved the events of Jan. 6 and added that the committee looked forward to his cooperation with the investigation.

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By Ellen Fike, Cowboy State Daily

U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney began the new year by providing updates to two news outlets about the congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 invasion of the U.S. Capitol, focusing on former President Donald Trump’s failure to stop the riot.

On ABC’s “This Week” with host George Stephanopoulos, Cheney said she has been surprised to learn about Trump’s movements inside the White House during the Capitol attack last January.

“The committee has firsthand testimony now that he was sitting in the dining room next to the Oval Office, watching the attack on television as the assault on the Capitol occurred,” she said. “The president could have at any moment walked those very few steps into the briefing room, gone on live television, and told his supporters who were assaulting the Capitol to stop. He could have told them to stand down. He could have told them to go home, and he failed to do so. It’s hard to imagine a more significant and more serious dereliction of duty than that.”

Trump, an avid Twitter user at the time, took no immediate action to address the rioters, many of who were identified as his supporters. When he did take action, it was described by some as a mild call for peace and a request for rioters to go home.

Cheney is the the vice chair of the House select committee investigating the attack. She was removed from her post as vice chair of the House Republican conference last year because of her vote to impeach Trump on allegations he incited the Capitol riot.

Stephanopoulos questioned whether Trump’s failure to stop the riot would amount to criminal negligence and Cheney said the committee is still looking into criminal penalties and legislative penalties for dereliction of duty.

She added Trump crossed lines that no president had ever crossed before.

“We have firsthand testimony that his daughter Ivanka went in at least twice to ask him to ‘Please stop this violence,'” Cheney said. “Any man who would not do so, any man who would provoke a violent assault on the Capitol to stop the counting of electoral votes, any man who would watch television as police officers were being beaten, as his supporters were invading the Capitol of the United States, is clearly unfit for future office.”

On CBS’ “Face the Nation,” Cheney discussed Trump’s planned news conference on Thursday, the one-year anniversary of the Capitol attack, along with the possibility for violent behavior in Washington, D.C.

“Former President Trump is likely again this week to make the same false claims about the election that he knows to be false, and the same false claims about the election that he knows caused violence on Jan. 6,” she said. “I think that is very concerning, given what we know happened in the lead up to (Jan. 6).”

Cheney said that Trump’s plans for this week are not surprising, as Trump knew his claims of the election being “stolen” caused the attack on the Capitol one year ago.

Host Margaret Brennan pointed out that CBS polling has shown 8 million people believe violence would be justified to restore Trump to the president’s office and that seven out of 10 Republicans believed Biden was an illegitimate president.

She asked Cheney why the Republican Party continued to believe Trump’s claims and Cheney responded by saying the former president has blown through every guardrail of democracy and demonstrated a complete lack of fitness for office.

“I think that we’re in a situation where people have got to understand the danger of President Trump and the danger that he posed on that day,” Cheney said. “He could have gone immediately on live television and asked his supporters to stop what was happening, ask them to go home. He instead…had the motivation at the same time the violent assault was happening…he was also calling at least one senator urging delay of the electoral vote.”

She noted that one of the most important jobs of the Jan. 6 committee is to lay out the facts surrounding Trump’s lack of action for the American people so they could have a sense of truth about the events of that day.

Brennan also asked how Cheney expected to win her Wyoming congressional primary later this year with a crowded race and a challenger in Cheyenne attorney Harriet Hageman, who has received an endorsement from Trump and financial backing from billionaire Peter Thiel.

The incumbent said she anticipated an energetic and hard-fought campaign this year.

“I’m confident that the people of Wyoming will not choose loyalty to one man, one man as dangerous as Donald Trump is,” Cheney said. “This is a man who is simply too dangerous ever to play a role again in our democracy. I look forward to the opportunity to continue to help the American people see the facts about what happened, and to continue to make the case at home about the kind of representation that we need in Washington for the people of Wyoming.”

When Brennan asked if Cheney was considering running against Trump for president in 2024, she said she was focused on her re-election campaign and the Jan. 6 committee for now.

“I can tell you that the single most important thing, though, is to ensure that Donald Trump is not the Republican nominee and that he certainly is not anywhere close to the Oval Office ever again,” she concluded.

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By Ellen Fike, Cowboy State Daily

More than 40 conservative officials sent a letter to House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-California, this week asking him to remove both U.S. Reps. Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger from the House Republican Conference.

The letter was sent by the Conservative Action Project, which consists of leaders from more than 100 conservative organizations. The officials who signed the letter called on McCarthy to remove both Cheney, R-Wyoming, and Kinzinger, R-Illinois from the House Republican Conference due to their “egregious” actions as part of the committee investigating the Jan. 6 invasion of the Capitol.

“As part of Pelosi’s team, Reps. Cheney and Kinzinger have deliberately sought to undermine the privacy and due process of their fellow Republicans, and those of private citizens, with improperly issued subpoenas and other investigatory tactics designed not to pursue any valid legislative end, but merely to exploit for the sake of political harassment and demagoguery,” the letter said.

While the letter said that as elected representatives, the two should be free to serve in the House, but no longer with the privileges granted to members of the conference.

“They should no longer be given access to the benefits of a conference they actively seek to undermine,” the letter said.

Cheney spokesman Jeremy Adler declined to comment on the letter.

Cheney was removed from her post as vice chair of the conference earlier this year due to stepping out of line with the rest of the party because of her vote to impeach former President Donald Trump on allegations he incited those attending a rally to invade the Capitol.

Some of the officials who signed on to the letter included former President Ronald Reagan’s attorney general, Edwin Meese and former U.S. Rep. Bob McEwan. Several conservative organizations, such as Liberty Consulting, Americans for Limited Government and Conservatives of Faith, were also represented in the letter.

Several of the people who signed the letter, including Family Research Council president Tony Perkins, Conservative Partnership Institute chairman Jim DeMint and Tea Party Patriots Citizen Fund chairman Jenny Beth Martin, also signed a letter from CAP last year that called on state legislators in battleground states such as Michigan and Pennsylvania to overturn the results of November’s general election and certify Trump as the victor.

“There is no doubt President Donald J. Trump is the lawful winner of the presidential election. Joe Biden is not president-elect,” the letter said.

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By Ellen Fike, Cowboy State Daily

U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney on Monday revealed texts encouraging the chief of staff for former President Donald Trump to push the president to condemn rioters who broke into the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.

Cheney, the vice chair of the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, during a committee meeting Monday night read aloud from several texts sent to Mark Meadows. The committee met as members advanced contempt of Congress charges against Meadows.

The committee unanimously voted to criminally charge Meadows with contempt of Congress, which the full U.S. House of Representatives will vote on Tuesday.

The vote against Meadows came after Cheney shared texts written by Trump’s son, among others.

“He’s got to condemn this sh*t ASAP,” Donald Trump Jr. texted Meadows, also writing, “We need an Oval office address.”

Cheney said that the committee worked with Meadows’ legal counsel for weeks regarding his testimony, but right before the scheduled hearing, Meadows reneged on the deal. She added that the contempt of Congress charge stems from his refusal to testify about the text messages he received on Jan. 6.

Meadows received numerous text messages from members of Congress, the press (including Fox News hosts) and Trump’s own family, urging him to persuade Trump to take action and call off the rioters.

“These text messages leave no doubt that the White House knew exactly what was happening here at the Capitol,” Cheney said during the meeting.

Trump, an avid Twitter user at the time, took a significantly long time to address the rioters, many of whom were his supporters. When he did, it was described by some as a mild call for peace and a request for rioters to go home.

Texts read by Cheney depicted the incident as a siege on the Capitol.

“We are under siege here at the Capitol,” one text to Meadows read.

“They have breached the Capitol,” another text said.

“Mark, protestors are literally storming the Capitol, breaking windows on doors, rushing in. Is Trump going to say something?” another text to Meadows said.

One Trump administration official texted Meadows and told him that the then-president needed to firmly condemn the rioters, because someone was going to get killed.

Four people died as a result of the Capitol attack that day.

Fox News host Laura Ingraham told Meadows that Trump was destroying his legacy by not telling the protestors to leave.

Cheney is one of two Republicans serving on the Jan. 6 committee and has been outspoken about Trump’s lack of reaction to the Capitol attack, even voting to impeach him for inciting the riot.

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By Ellen Fike, Cowboy State Daily

The congressional investigation into the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol is “firing on all cylinders,” U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney said Thursday.

Cheney, in a series of tweets, gave an update on Thursday on the activities of the House select committee tasked with looking into the riot, saying the body is confident it will win a federal court case regarding documents held by former President Donald Trump.

“We have litigated and won Trump’s executive privilege case in Federal District Court. The Federal Appellate Court has expedited the appeal, and we anticipate a ruling regarding many more Trump White House documents soon,” she wrote. “Do not be misled: President Trump is trying to hide what happened on January 6th and to delay and obstruct. We will not let that happen. The truth will come out.”

Cheney won a spot on the committee after voting for Trump’s impeachment on allegations he spurred the crowd attending a speech he gave to invade the Capitol.

Cheney, one of two Republicans on the committee, said the committee has spoken with more than 300 witnesses so far.

“The Committee has already met with nearly 300 witnesses; we hear from four more key figures in the investigation today. We are conducting multiple depositions and interviews every week,” she wrote in the first tweet.

The committee has received “exceptionally” interesting and important documents from a number of witnesses, including former President Donald Trump’s chief of staff Mark Meadows, who apparently has turned over “many” texts from his private cell phone from Jan. 6, she said.

According to CNN, Meadows is suing the committee and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-California, and is asking a federal court to block enforcement of a subpoena the committee issued him, as well as one it issued to Verizon for his phone records.

The committee recently indicated it would pursue a criminal contempt referral against Meadows due to his refusal to sit for a deposition in the investigation.

Following the Capitol riot, Cheney was one of the few Republicans to vote to impeach Trump for allegedly inciting it. Many of the protestors were Trump supporters who stormed the Capitol as Congress was preparing to vote to confirm the results of November’s general election and verify President Joe Biden as the winner.

Trump has regularly claimed that the election was stolen, with no proof. Cheney has regularly called him out for lying, and has had her role in the congressional Republican Party reduced for stepping out of line with the rest of her colleagues.

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