Liz Cheney Takes Center Stage in Jan. 6 Inquiry

WASHINGTON — Representative Liz Cheney of Wyoming, the onetime Republican person ousted from her station and pushed to the sidelines by her ain enactment for bluntly condemning erstwhile President Donald J. Trump’s mendacious predetermination claims, has re-emerged arsenic a unit connected Capitol Hill — this clip arsenic 1 of the astir progressive and assertive members of the peculiar committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack.

Ms. Cheney’s no-holds-barred benignant grabbed the spotlight this week arsenic the committee led the complaint to clasp Mark Meadows, the erstwhile White House main of staff, successful contempt for his refusal to cooperate with the panel’s investigation.

Twice successful the abstraction of 2 days, from proceeding rooms connected Capitol Hill, she work aloud panicked and aggravated substance messages that Republican lawmakers sent Mr. Meadows connected Jan. 6 arsenic rioters laid siege to the complex.

“It’s truly atrocious up present connected the Hill,” 1 wrote successful a substance that Ms. Cheney work connected Tuesday, up of a House ballot to clasp Mr. Meadows successful contempt. “The president needs to halt this ASAP,” different said. A 3rd simply wrote: “Fix this now.”

Ms. Cheney’s recitation — delivered successful her signature monotone — reflected her attack arsenic the vice chairwoman of the panel, wherever she is serving successful defiance of Republican leaders who person sought to thwart the probe astatine each turn.

Both successful nationalist and down the scenes, Ms. Cheney has utilized her perch to clasp up an unsparing and often unflattering reflector to her ain party, exposing Republicans’ complicity successful the stolen-election communicative that fueled the Jan. 6 riot. She has done truthful adjacent successful the look of a superior situation from a Trump-backed campaigner that is apt to beryllium a referendum connected the erstwhile president.

“For her, this is astir mounting retired successful stark alleviation what the information is, and successful immoderate mode making the Republican Party face that truth,” said Michael Steele, a erstwhile president of the Republican National Committee. “‘Here are the substance messages, present are the telephone logs, present are the conversations.’ That becomes a precise hard communicative enactment to refute.”

Ms. Cheney, the scion of a blimpish dynasty, has recovered herself successful an antithetic place arsenic a effect of her presumption connected the committee, arsenic has the panel’s lone different Republican member, Representative Adam Kinzinger of Illinois. They person been ostracized and derided arsenic grandstanders by their ain party; astatine the aforesaid time, they person been embraced by Democrats arsenic the lone Republicans consenting to request a afloat and bipartisan accounting of the worst onslaught connected Congress successful centuries.

During committee hearings and level debates, Ms. Cheney often tailors her nationalist comments to an assemblage of Republican voters and elected officials. On Monday, she chose to publically work anguished texts sent to Mr. Meadows connected Jan. 6 by blimpish personalities similar the Fox News big Laura Ingraham and Mr. Trump’s lad Donald Trump Jr.

In doing so, Ms. Cheney made the lawsuit that determination was a infinitesimal erstwhile adjacent the astir devoted loyalists to Mr. Trump understood that his inaction successful the look of the unit astatine the Capitol was inexcusable.

“We arsenic Republicans utilized to beryllium unified connected this constituent — successful presumption of what happened connected Jan. 6 and the work the president had to halt it,” Ms. Cheney said.

But her situation is that her assemblage is simply a decidedly hostile one, a world that is possibly obscurity clearer than astatine location successful Wyoming, wherever she has been purged from the authorities enactment and is facing a situation from Harriet Hageman, a Never Trumper turned MAGA acolyte.

“By pointing retired the facts of what happened Jan. 6, and the hypocrisy of those pushing a communicative into a colonisation consenting to person it, she’s identifying the lies,” said Denver Riggleman, a erstwhile Republican congressman who is connected the peculiar committee’s staff. “And hoping that a tiny percent volition spot this and recognize that Jan. 6 not lone was 1 of the worst things successful our history, successful our capital, but has besides been utilized to play radical for money.”

Behind the scenes, Ms. Cheney has been conscionable arsenic aggressive. She is known to draught her ain remarks successful beforehand of hearings and does her ain mentation work, poring implicit the voluminous documents the committee has obtained. She besides pressed to assemble a team of erstwhile quality analysts and instrumentality enforcement specialists connected the committee’s staff, immoderate of them Republicans — a determination that bolstered the committee’s bipartisan bona fides.

In closed-door interviews held successful a nondescript national bureau gathering adjacent the Capitol, Ms. Cheney has emerged arsenic a person and cardinal fig connected the panel, known for drilling down into the details of the duty she views arsenic the astir important of her governmental career. She is well-versed successful the transgression codification and often uses connection borrowed from it to marque wide she believes the erstwhile president and others look transgression exposure.

She has been peculiarly pointed successful suggesting that Mr. Trump, by failing to halt the unit astatine the Capitol connected Jan. 6, whitethorn person violated a national instrumentality that prohibits obstructing an authoritative proceeding earlier Congress.

“We cognize hours passed with nary enactment by the president to support the Congress of the United States from an battle portion we were trying to number electoral votes,” Ms. Cheney said. “Mr. Meadows’s grounds volition carnivore connected a cardinal question successful beforehand of this committee: Did Donald Trump, done enactment oregon inaction, corruptly question to obstruct oregon impede Congress’s authoritative proceeding to number electoral votes?”

Key Aspects of the Jan. 6 Inquiry

The statute that Ms. Cheney was citing is the ground for the main complaint that instrumentality enforcement officials person brought against much than 200 Capitol rioters accused of interfering with Congress’s relation successful certifying the Electoral College vote. The obstruction law, which prosecutors person utilized successful lieu of sedition oregon insurrection, is however the authorities has chosen to picture the cardinal governmental transgression of Jan. 6: disrupting the peaceful modulation of power.

Ms. Cheney has besides established herself arsenic a pugnacious and meticulous questioner successful deposition interviews.

When Jeffrey Clark, a Justice Department lawyer who participated successful Mr. Trump’s frenzied efforts to overturn the election, appeared earlier the committee past month, Ms. Cheney pressed him successful a bid of rapid-fire questions connected assorted aspects of the program to support Mr. Trump successful power.

“In presumption of your assertions astir Dominion voting machines and astute thermostats, could you explicate wherever you got that information?” she asked astir a chaotic conspiracy mentation astir the hacking of voting machines that was endorsed by Trump supporters.

Ms. Cheney has taken peculiar involvement successful holding members of her ain enactment accountable.

“I’d similar to inquire the witnesser erstwhile helium archetypal met Congressman Scott Perry,” Ms. Cheney asked Mr. Clark, referring to a lawmaker who had acted arsenic a conduit betwixt him and Mr. Trump.

“Did you person immoderate enactment with immoderate different members of Congress?” she asked astatine different point.

Each clip Mr. Clark refused to answer.

“I conscionable privation to beryllium wide that I privation the grounds to amusement that Mr. Clark is refusing to reply immoderate questions, including those questions that person thing to bash with immoderate of his enactment with the president, questions that couldn’t conceivably beryllium covered by immoderate assertion of enforcement privilege,” Ms. Cheney said.

Ms. Cheney has said that the probe could precise good pb to Mr. Trump facing her questions, with transgression penalties hanging implicit his caput if helium lies.

“Any connection Mr. Trump has with this committee volition beryllium nether oath,” Ms. Cheney said this month. “And if helium persists successful lying then, helium volition beryllium accountable nether the laws of this large federation and taxable to transgression penalties for each mendacious connection helium speaks.”

Alan Feuer contributed reporting.