Liz Cheney: Jan. 6 panel mulling ‘enhanced criminal penalties’ in response to Trump’s ‘dereliction of duty’

Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) danced around a question about criminal referrals to suggest possible legislative action by way of “enhanced criminal penalties” as the January 6 select committee ramps up their narrative-building in the lead up to the midterms.

Cheney joined NBC’s Chuck Todd on “Meet the Press” Sunday where they discussed the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the Iran nuclear deal. Before the conversation ended, Todd sought an update on the House of Representatives’ heavily partisan investigation into the events that took place on Capitol Hill during the certification of the 2020 presidential election.

Specifically, Todd set up an opportunity for Cheney to bring up former President Donald Trump when he asked, “The public exposé that you guys are eventually going to do…should we expect criminal referrals on this?”

Claiming that the first priority of the committee was to make recommendations, Cheney said. “We’re looking at things like, do we need additional enhanced criminal penalties for the kind of supreme dereliction of duty that you saw with President Trump when he refused to tell the mob to go home after he had provoked that attack on the Capitol?”

The vice-chair of the committee went on to say, “I can tell you, I have not learned a single thing since I have been on this committee that has made me less concerned or less worried about the gravity of the situation and the actions that President Trump took – and also refused to take – while the attack was underway.”

Of course, boasting only two Republicans who both voted in favor of impeaching Trump, Cheney and Rep. Adam Kinzinger (IL), it would be difficult to argue that there was any effort by the committee to uncover details that would lessen concerns about the former president.

After spending more than $2 million dollars on compiling 84,000 documents from nearly 750 interviews, the committee is preparing to transition into a televised hearing carefully scripted to lead observers to one outcome. CNN reported on committee chair Rep. Bennie Thompson’s (D-MO) suggestion that an outside writer be hired to craft their findings into a report.

“We don’t want it to read like a clunky committee effort. We want it to have an authorial voice that tells the story of what happened,” Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) explained in support of Thompson’s proposal.

The committee has reportedly reached out to one journalist on the potential of filling this role but did not name who they were considering. Raskin went on to describe the failings of the Mueller report as a reason for more creative licensing in the finalized report, “The Mueller report is the example of how we don’t want it to read.”

Trump has referred to both investigations as “witch hunts.” The number of public supporters of the former president along with members of his inner circle that have been willing to testify or been subpoenaed, as the Daily Mail reported, clearly shows this has more to do with animosity toward Trump than anything else.

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Kevin Haggerty

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