On Fox News Sunday this morning, Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) shut down host Bret Baier’s attempts to shift blame for the violence that occurred at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, to anywhere but where it belongs – with Donald Trump.
Baier asked Cheney if the investigative committee was looking into why the National Guard wasn’t “prepped and ready.”
While confirming there were intelligence and security failures that day, Rep. Cheney told the host, “What we aren’t going to do Bret, is blame the Capitol Police, blame those in law enforcement for Donald Trump’s armed mob that he sent to the Capitol.”
Liz Cheney on Fox News in response to Baier's question about if the J6 committee is investigating Pelosi and the Capitol Police: "What we aren't gonna do, Bret, is blame the Capitol Police, blame those in law enforcement, for Donald Trump's armed mob that he sent to the Capitol" pic.twitter.com/gnqpK5xdOq
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) July 24, 2022
Vice Chair of the House Select Committee on January 6th, Cheney also debunked Trump’s claims that he ordered troops that were subsequently canceled.
When Baier commented, “There are several witnesses who say they met with President Trump on Jan. 4th, and he offered some 20,000 National Guardsman to protect the Capitol building on Jan. 6, but the offer was rejected.” The Fox Newshost then asked Cheney, “Is that true? Do you know that to be true?”
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The congresswoman responded:
“Well, his own acting Secretary of Defense says that’s not true. Christopher Miller has testified publicly that Donald Trump never issued any order to deploy the guard and protect the Capitol. And so I would point people to his own Secretary of Defense’s public testimony.”
A familiar — and false — narrative has been that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) blocked the deployment of the guard. Jurisdiction over the D.C. Guard belonged to then-President Trump.
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During the House Select Committee’s first televised hearing, Rep. Cheney stated, “Not only did President Trump refuse to tell the mob to leave the Capitol, he placed no call to any element of the United States government to instruct that the Capitol be defended.”
The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley, testified before the Committee and corroborated the committee’s findings.
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"Trump gave no order to deploy the National Guard that day, and made no effort to work with the Department of Justice to coordinate and deploy law enforcement assets. But Mike Pence did." – @RepLizCheney
Testimony from General Milley, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff: pic.twitter.com/X6MzHl4hHj
— January 6th Committee (@January6thCmte) June 10, 2022
The Select Committee hearings have confirmed what many of us already suspected: that the events of Jan. 6 were a culmination of a premeditated plot to disrupt the democratic process — covert, and overt, acts of treason and sedition by those in our very own government.
Cheney promises the report will be thorough. There are five teams working together, with one devoted entirely to the response of the Capitol Police, Capitol Police Board, and actions at the Pentagon on the day of the riot. In her words, “This was a mob that Donald Trump sent to the Capitol. And I think that’s important to keep our eye on.
Indeed, it is.
Follow Ty Ross on Twitter @cooltxchick
