Still, for Cheney, the political consequences will be evident on Tuesday. She is likely to lose her House seat to pro-Trump Harriet Hageman in the GOP primary, according to most public polls, despite active effort to garner support from Wyoming Democrats who praised his work on the Jan. 6 panel.
This loss will likely only increase the importance of Cheney’s role in the Capitol attack investigation in terms of keeping her name in the mix ahead of a 2024 presidential field that she has not ruled out. trying to join – if she can find a way as Trump spoils without helping her by serving as a foil. And some of her fellow Republicans predict she will have no trouble garnering attention, even if she loses her House seat, thanks in large part to her select committee platform.
“Regardless of the election outcome, she will continue to be engaged for the next few months here in Congress,” Rep. And Newhouse (R-Wash.), one of only two House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump on Jan. 6 and later prevailed in contested primary battles. “She is still on the investigative committee…and I think she will continue to be.”
Members of the January 6 panel, all appointed by the President Nancy Pelosiswear they will continue their work until the end of this Congress, even as Capitol Hill’s attention begins to shift to dealing with the classified documents the FBI found at Trump’s home in Mar-a-Lago and the DOJ’s investigation into efforts by Trump and his allies to reverse his defeat by President Joe Biden.
Investigators on the panel are still interviewing witnesses ahead of further hearings scheduled for next month, with Cheney expected to continue in her high-profile vice-presidential position. As the investigation winds down, members are still planning a final report before the midpoints detailing their findings on the attack and how to prevent future threats from moving forward.
“We are on a mission to investigate the violent assault on our democracy on January 6 and report on recommendations for our national response,” the panel representative said. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) When asked if Cheney’s primary outcome would affect the work of the committee. “In the meantime, the election results have no bearing on our work.”
Some pro-Cheney signs were visible in Jackson leading up to the primary, showing support for a politician from his hometown, and there were signs that his strategy to hang on was working on some levels. Bryan Tarantola, 75, a Democrat and longtime resident of Wyoming, said he registered as a Republican this election year so he could vote for Cheney in the primary.
“There’s not much about the Cheneys that interests me,” Tarantola said in an interview at a cigar lounge in Jackson Hole. “But his opposition [to Trump] would tell you that Liz displays Wyoming values. Liz demonstrates honesty, integrity, courage – what I have always believed to be traditional Wyoming values. At least they were in Wyoming where I grew up.
Yet the city itself is one of two blue dots in a sea of red within the state that has tipped Trump nearly 70 percentage points.. Jackson native George Dykes, 53, said he had supported the Cheney family for years and recalled seeing former Vice President Dick Cheney’s daughter walk into the former senator’s office Craig Thomas (R-Wyo.), where he once worked.
But Dykes completely embittered the family over Liz Cheney’s service to the Jan. 6 committee, arguing she fueled a Democratic narrative and adding that while “I don’t necessarily like Hageman, I’m done with Cheney.” .”
“She died for me,” he said. “I will never support this family again.” In other words, Cheney’s beliefs make the Wyoming native the outsider now.
Things were very different just 18 months ago, as Cheney’s trajectory in a Trump-dominated GOP quickly veered off course following the violent Capitol siege by his supporters. When she voted to impeach Trump last year, when she was third in the House leadership, she was the highest-ranking Republican to publicly declare Trump unfit to serve as president.
Cheney’s decision shook Trump’s second impeachment with seismic force. Some still argue that her vote covered the other nine House Republicans who joined her. Undoubtedly, it crushed Cheney’s once-nascent vision as a future speaker, and soon after, her frequent criticism of Trump saw her ousted from the House GOP No. 3 leadership spot.
When she said the morning prayer before the conference meeting that removed him from office, she chose bible verse who says “the truth will set you free”.
Indeed, she seemed even more liberated by her outright rejection at the hands of House Republicans after accepting Pelosi’s nomination to the Jan. 6 panel. Retired Representative Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.), who is as open as Cheney in condemning Trump, joined her on the panel selected after the House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy boycotted it to protest Pelosi’s decision to block two of his picks.
But Cheney’s mission to stop Trump at all costs necessarily requires him to remain relevant in the national conversation. She recently started acknowledging the likelihood of losing her seat – an outcome she forcefully rejected a year ago. McCarthy, who rarely gets involved officially in the primaries, has long backed his opponent.
And while losing won’t keep her from diving into the Jan. 6 panel until the day Republicans likely take control of the House, the FBI’s search for Mar-a-Lago means she’ll be vying for the oxygen with other well known. legislators.
House Intelligence Chair Adam Schiff (D-California), a select panel member and Chairman of House Oversight Caroline Maloney (DN.Y.) on Saturday pressed Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines for a “full review” of the potential damage caused by the removal of classified White House documents from Trump’s estate. It is likely that other congressional committees from both houses with jurisdiction over the controversy will also intervene.
Another possible wrinkle for Cheney posed by the DOJ’s increasingly public Trump investigation: His potential to unite a GOP that is often struggled to mount an effective response to the devastating deluge of the January 6 committee. Trump-aligned Republicans appeared briefly emboldened last week after the Mar-a-Lago raid, arguing before the full picture became clear that the former president was the victim of politicized law enforcement – a stark contrast with their more vague rebuttals from the selected panel.
But whether or not Cheney has to share investigative real estate with the DOJ and other Democrats, she is more likely to give up her seat after Tuesday than give up her leadership of the GOP’s anti-Trump wing.
“I don’t think Liz is going to go away,” Rep. Kelly Armstrong (RN.D.).
Wu reported from Washington.