Liz Cheney, the former vice chair of the controversial January 6 Committee, dismissed accusations that she and other committee members should face jail time for allegedly destroying critical evidence related to the investigation. Cheney’s defense came after former President Donald Trump’s accusation that members of the committee, including her and committee chair Bennie Thompson, engaged in a concerted effort to erase files that exonerated him from any wrongdoing in connection to January 6.
The accusations emerged following a statement by Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-GA), who led an oversight investigation by the House Administration Committee. In January, Loudermilk’s team of computer forensic investigators reportedly discovered that 117 files were either deleted or encrypted during the committee’s investigation. Loudermilk argued that the missing files could have been pivotal in clearing Trump’s name, suggesting that the missing evidence might have been intentionally hidden.
“This is a clear attempt to obstruct our Subcommittee by failing to preserve critical information and videos as required by House rules,” Loudermilk told Fox News. His statement echoed Trump’s claims that the January 6 Committee had gone to great lengths to prevent certain documents from being made public.
In his first official interview since winning the election on Meet The Press, he said, “Cheney did something that’s inexcusable, along with Thompson and the people on the un-select committee of political thugs and creeps.”
Cheney, who has long been a vocal critic of Trump, vehemently denied the accusations. In a statement to The New York Times, she called Trump’s comments “ridiculous and false” and an example of his ongoing attack on the rule of law. Cheney dismissed any suggestion that she or other committee members had engaged in improper conduct, insisting on the legitimacy of the investigation.
Breitbart News reports:
Trump suggested that “maybe” President Joe Biden should preemptively pardon Cheney and others from the committee. Democrats and media allies have urged the president to do so. “Biden can give them a pardon if he wants to,” Trump told NBC News’s Kristen Welker. “And maybe he should.”
After discussing the alleged destruction of evidence, Welker asked, “So you think Liz Cheney should go to jail?”
Trump began to reply, before Welker cut him off. “Anybody who voted in favor–”
“Are you going to direct your FBI director and your attorney general to send them to jail?”
“Not at all,” Trump said. “I think that they’ll have to look at that…They can do whatever that want.”
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Why doesn’t she just switch parties? Shev sucks up to the Dems all the time