For the first time, Liz Cheney hinted at possibly charging Donald Trump with a crime on Monday night. Cheney's remarks came after she read text messages sent to then-White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows on Jan. 6.
SEE ALSO: Meadows Faces Contempt Vote After Committee Reveals Texts From Fox News Hosts
WATCH (relevant portion starts at 3:02):
While the majority of the mainstream media focused on the text messages, The Washington Post reported on Cheney's subsequent comments. Comments that could upend the political universe if Democrats—and possibly a few Republicans—act on them:
In summing up the texts, Cheney (R-Wyo.) said, “Mr. Meadows's testimony will bear on another key question before this committee: Did Donald Trump, through action or inaction, corruptly seek to obstruct or impede Congress's official proceeding to count electoral votes?”
A Casual Observer Might Have Missed It
A casual observer might have missed it, but what Cheney was doing here was pointing to a specific criminal statute — a felony, 18 U.S. Code § 1512 — that she suggests President Donald Trump might have violated. And both its inclusion in her comments and the timing of it shouldn't be lost on anyone. This was a Republican member of the committee floating a specific potential Trump crime that the committee apparently wants to drill down on; it also came shortly after a federal judge upheld the use of the statute in a key Jan. 6 case.
District Judge Dabney L. Friedrich agreed with the Justice Department last week that the accused Capitol rioters could be charged with violating the same statute by allegedly attempting to prevent the Electoral College vote count.
Cheney, on Tuesday morning at another hearing, cited the statute again — pretty much erasing any doubt about how deliberate this was.
Cheney's comment matches the language of the statute. It states, “Whoever corruptly … obstructs, influences, or impedes any official proceeding, or attempts to do so, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both.” That law defines an “official proceeding” as including “a proceeding before the Congress.”
Before Monday night, little indication existed that the Jan. 6 committee intended to attempt to charge Trump with a crime. While it's still a long shot, supporters of the president shouldn't take Cheney's statements lightly.
SEE ALSO: Never Trump Republicans Come to the Rescue of Endangered Democrats
So what do you think? Will the Jan. 6 committee eventually charge Trump? And do you worry that there's a chance Liz Cheney will survive her GOP primary? Tell us in the comments below.
Lizzy needs to be charged with treason along with the other members of the illegal bunchnof thugs.
Trump sets himself up easily because he does NOT understand US LAWS nor the limitations and capabilities of his Executive Powers.
Trump being dangerously naive does not help either!
You nailed it. Trump doesn’t understand how vicious these people are. Like you said, he is naive. Apparently 4 years in Oz didn’t open his eyes.
The proof of the facts the main root of whether the validation of result of
Electoral votes were completely ignored the validity, now that after
almost all of the swinging states are acknowledging there plenty of illigal discrepancy on counties with suspected down right cheating were proofing had been established. Therefore let’s push for these proof as
counter defense . Citizens have the fight to question if the nation is complicated with illigal compromised votes.
I would argue that the statute is void for vagueness — i.e., its failure to specify which acts to “influence” (etc.) an official proceeding are to be deemed “corrupt.” If “corrupt influence” can be read broadly, does paying the Biden family the better part of a million dollars through a sham “directorship” in order to influence the proceedings of the Senate when Sen. Biden was presiding over it qualify? How about paying a law firm a million dollars to hire a foreign national to dredge up lies about a Presidential candidate, and then peddle them to the FBI /DOJ as if they were factual — does that count? Seems like the ultimate corrupt scheme to influence the “official proceedings” of the 2016 election, the 2017 inauguration, and ever official act of Pres. Trump thereafter.
You are exactly correct. It’s amazing how these laws only apply to one party. President Trump & anyone close to him gets singled out for the harshest treatment possible while Democrats get away with shredding the Constitution daily. If they follow through with this, it will come back to haunt them.
Chaney and her left wing liberal democrat friends continue to push this country closer and closer to that second American revolution to remove a harsh and unjust government that has been talked about for a number of years now. Between them, along with the “woke” bunch, the PC Nazis, the blm, the antifa crowd, and all the rest of those trying to destroy our constitutional Republic, they are further dividing us as a people, and destroying this country, and we may well not survive as a single United States of America. What a sad ending for this once great and proud nation.
What has Liz Chaney got up her Wide A__? Her whole family has always been war Mongers. Is she wanting to see this country torn apart in a second civil war?
Is she so power hungry she has to hitch her star to old Nancy Pelosi? Watch out Liz. One of days Nancy will stick a knife in your back when she no longer needs you!
Thank you This is could not be any more true!!
The WICKED WITCH of Congress! Everywhere she goes you can smell the stench!
The Trump-Haters will not stop and will look for any way to prosecute him. He came to office as a business man, not a
politician. What he did for our country in four years far outdid any politician. Hopefully he has learned how the inner
workings of our government can cause trouble for an individual. I can’t believe the Russia hoax is still alive. There are
some people who still believe it. PLEASE.