Liz Cheney hints Jan 6 committee may hold more public hearings

‘I think we have felt it is very important that the investigation be conducted in a way that is rigorous and disciplined and responsible’

Liz Cheney has hinted that there may be more January 6 committee public hearings to come in the wake of a subpoena being issued for Donald Trump.

The Republican lawmaker made the remarks at Notre Dame on Friday, the day after the committee dramatically voted to subpoena the one-term president.

Ms Cheney was asked during an event at the Indiana university’s Center for Citizenship and Constitutional Government why the committee had waited until the “last day” to act.

“It’s not necessarily the last day of the hearings,” she told the audience.

“I think we have felt it is very important that the investigation be conducted in a way that is rigorous and disciplined and responsible,” she added.

“That has meant collecting evidence from many, if not all, because of course some people took the Fifth (Amendment) or some people refused to appear, but collecting evidence from all those around the central figure on January 6 before we issued a subpoena for him.”

Ms Cheney told the audience that she has been so determined to act on the pro-Trump insurrection for the sake of her sons.

“Even if you disagreed with the outcome of an election, even if you fought that election hard and you understood that your candidate lost, we could count on the people leading us to guarantee a peaceful transfer of power, and I looked to my sons and I thought to myself, ‘Are they going to be the generation that no longer can count on that?’” She added.

“I was determined then, I’m determined now, and as long as I am in every way possible, I’m going to fight to make sure that’s not the case.”

Mr Trump responded to the subpoena with a 14-page letter to select committee chairman Bennie Thompson in which he attacked the panel’s legitimacy, along with his complaints about his 2020 election loss and conspiracy theories about his defeat by Joe Biden.

The former president refused to say if he would testify in the letter, which contained four pages of text and 10 pages of pictures.

The letter was mocked by Democratic lawmaker Adam Schiff.

“Trump’s unsworn ‘statement’ about the work of (the committee) is not a substitute for testimony under oath. We await a serious response from the former president. Seven previous presidents have honored their responsibility to appear before Congress. Trump should do the same,” the Congressman from California tweeted.