Liz Cheney Calls Out GOP Colleagues Before Bannon Contempt Vote

“You all know that there is no evidence of widespread election fraud sufficient to overturn the election."
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Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) gave a sharp message to her Republican colleagues Tuesday as the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol attack prepared to vote to hold Steve Bannon, a former aide to President Donald Trump, in criminal contempt for refusing to comply with a subpoena.

“Almost every one of my colleagues knows in your hearts that what happened on January 6th was profoundly wrong,” said Cheney, the vice chair of the select committee.

“You all know that there is no evidence of widespread election fraud sufficient to overturn the election. You all know that the Dominion voting machines were not corrupted by a foreign power. You know these claims are false. Yet former President Trump repeats them almost daily.”

She implored her colleagues to “consider the fundamental questions of right and wrong here.”

“The American people must know what happened,” she said. “They must know the truth. All of us who are elected officials must do our duty to prevent the dismantling of the rule of law, and to ensure nothing like that dark day in January ever happens again.”

Cheney, one of two Republicans on the committee, was ousted from her leadership position in the GOP earlier this year because she had become increasingly vocal about Trump’s role in inciting the Jan. 6 riot and refused to support his electoral fraud lies.

She was among 10 Republicans who voted to impeach Trump for inciting the January attack on Congress.

Earlier in her speech Tuesday, Cheney revealed that it appeared Bannon had “substantial advanced knowledge” of the plans for Jan. 6 and likely had an important role in formulating them.

Bannon has refused to cooperate with the investigation. He defied a subpoena issued last month by the committee ordering him to hand over records of his communications with the White House around Jan. 6, and also failed to appear before the committee for a hearing last week.

The nine members of the committee voted unanimously to hold him in contempt of Congress. The criminal referral is expected to go before the full House for a vote Friday. If passed in the chamber, it would then be referred to the Justice Department.

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