Representative Liz Cheney seemed to dismiss the possibility of live testimony by Donald Trump following the January 6 Select Committee’s subpoena of the former President, insisting the highly partisan panel wouldn’t allow him to turn the proceedings into a circus.
Cheney, speaking with Chuck Todd on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” contends the committee would treat any deposition with “great seriousness.”
“The committee treats this matter with great seriousness, and we are going to proceed in terms of the questioning of the former president under oath,” she said. “It may take multiple days, and it will be done with a level of rigor and discipline and seriousness that it deserves.”
“He’s not going to turn this into a circus,” Cheney added. “This isn’t going to be, you know, his first debate against Joe Biden and the circus and the food fight that that became. This is [a] far too serious set of issues.”
WATCH: The Jan. 6 committee will not allow fmr. President Trump to turn his testimony into a “circus,” says @RepLizCheney (R-Wyo.)
“This isn’t going to be his first debate against Joe Biden … and the food fight that that became. This is a far too serious set of issues.” pic.twitter.com/3bUyUFVf9m
— Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) October 23, 2022
RELATED: Report: Trump Will Testify to January 6 Committee If They Meet This One Condition
Liz Cheney’s Circus Doesn’t Want to Become a Circus
The select committee, co-chaired by Liz Cheney, has already become quite a circus, complete with melodramatic crocodile tears from Capitol police officers and lawmakers alike, debunked conspiracy theories, and doctored evidence.
Her insistence on being super-serious with that backdrop shows that, in reality, there is little about this panel that should be taken as a serious investigation.
Cheney’s comments follow the panel’s decision within the past several days to issue a subpoena for the former President.
Trump responded by indicating to aides that he was enamored with the idea of testifying, so long as it was aired live to the public.
w/reporting from @maggieNYT that Trump, in response to the subpoena, has told aides he wants to testify so long as he gets to do it live…https://t.co/pXKrS45iLJ
— Michael S. Schmidt (@nytmike) October 13, 2022
New York Times correspondent Maggie Haberman reported that “at least one of his lawyers was sounding people out” about willingly testifying “as long as the committee would let him do it live.”
It remains unclear if Trump would actually comply, as he has repeatedly urged associates not to testify before a committee he considers a sham.
Cheney insisted the committee would find a way to compel him to respond appropriately.
“We have many, many alternatives that we will consider if the former president decides that he is not going to comply with his legal obligation — a legal obligation every American citizen has to comply with a subpoena,” she said.
RELATED: Trump Slams ‘Laughing Stock’ January 6 Committee as They Unanimously Vote to Subpoena Him
Trump Slams ‘Crooked People’ on the January 6 Committee
Speaking at a rally in Texas over the weekend, Donald Trump told supporters about the subpoena and slammed the January 6 committee as a gaggle of “crooked people.”
“They sent me a subpoena the other day” Trump told a crowd disapproving of the select committee. “They sent me a subpoena, think of it. These crooked people, these crooked people.”
He went on to further unproven claims of massive fraud in the 2020 presidential election.
“And the only thing they … won’t investigate, was the corruption that took place in that election, which was massive,” he claimed.
At his first public rally since being subpoenaed by the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, fmr. Pres. Trump on Saturday complained about the panel’s investigation and did not indicate whether he’d comply with the demand to testify. https://t.co/Q1F94d4ti2
— CBS News (@CBSNews) October 23, 2022
Trump continued that thread of openly wondering about the committee’s intentions on his Truth Social media platform.
“Why didn’t the January 6th Committee of Unselects discuss the massive voter fraud in the 2020 Presidential Election, which is the thing that led to the tremendous protest,” he asked.
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“Also, no talk of [House Speaker Nancy] Pelosi turning down military protection three days before January 6th. Why?”
Fact-checkers have consistently said claims about the National Guard order are not true.
While the January 6 committee has been investigating Trump’s supposed incitement of violence for nearly two years, video has surfaced recently showing Pelosi actually threatening the former President with violence before the riot at the Capitol had even begun.
PELOSI ON JAN. 6: “I hope [Trump] comes. I’m gonna punch him out! This is my moment. I’ve been waiting for this—for trespassing on the Capitol grounds. I’m gonna punch him out and I’m gonna go to jail and I’m gonna be happy.” pic.twitter.com/Vnz9yiRf3h
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) October 14, 2022
“If he comes [to the Capitol], I’m going to punch him out. I’ve been waiting for this. For trespassing on the Capitol grounds, I’m going to punch him out,” said Pelosi.
“And I’m going to go to jail, and I’m going to be happy.”
Pelosi rejected House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s selections for the committee, including a pair of Republicans who have been allies of Trump.
That move led to the strictly one-sided ‘Never Trumper’ circus including Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger you see before you today.
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