Skip to main content
Apr 10, 2022 - Politics & Policy

Liz Cheney denies report claiming Jan. 6. panel is split on Trump criminal referral

Ivana Saric

Jan. 6 Select Committee Vice Chair Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) on Sunday disputed a New York Times report that claimed the panel is divided on whether to make a criminal referral to the Department of Justice on former President Trump for his actions during the insurrection.

Driving the news: A New York Times report out Sunday claimed the panel is split on a referral even though members have concluded they have enough evidence to do so.

  • "The debate centers on whether making a referral — a largely symbolic act — would backfire by politically tainting the Justice Department’s expanding investigation into the Jan. 6 assault and what led up to it," the report notes, citing people involved in discussions.

What she's saying: "We have not made a decision about referrals on the committee," Cheney said on CNN's "State of the Union" on Sunday. "I think that it is absolutely the case, it's absolutely clear, that what President Trump was doing, what a number of people around him were doing, that they knew it was unlawful. They did it anyway."

  • "There’s not really a dispute on the committee," she added. "The committee is working in a really collaborative way to discuss these issues, as we are with all of the issues we’re addressing, and we’ll continue to work together to do so."
  • "I think that it is the single most collaborative committee on which I've ever served," Cheney told host Jake Tapper.
Go deeper