‘It may or may not threaten her re-election’: Rep. Cheney starts Jan 6th hearings amid Republican backlash

WASHINGTON (Gray DC) - The American people are about to get a much more clear picture of what happened on, and leading up to the attack on the US Capitol.

The January 6th committee has been busy conducting thousands of interviews, and sifting through a mountains of evidence.

Now, they’re ready to show their findings in primetime.

There’s a lot on the line for Republican congresswoman Liz Cheney in particular - who is one of two republicans to sit on this committee. She’s drawn sharp ire from the president and members of her own party, but she says it’s all in the name of democracy.

“It cost her her position in the Republican leadership. It, you know, may or may not threaten her reelection,” said Brookings Institute Senior Fellow Molly Reynolds. “She’s made a decision that what she thinks is best for the country, even if it comes at potentially a personal political cost to her.”

Reynolds says that Liz Cheney is taking a stand, which puts her at odds with her own party.

“Liz Cheney has made a decision that she thinks you know, what happened on January 6th was an attack on American democracy and that it is the responsibility of members from both parties to get to the bottom of that.”

As the vice-chair of the committee, Cheney is tasked with presenting the gathered evidence of what happened on, and leading up to January 6th. She told CBS Sunday Morning that the quote ‘conspiracy’ was “extremely broad. It’s extremely well organized. It’s really chilling,” adding, “I have not learned anything that has made me less concerned.”

“I think it really is trying to capture attention as they start this process of telling the story of what they’ve uncovered,” said Reynolds. “It seems like we’re going to see a lot of new evidence”

That new evidence includes a clear time-line of what happened in the White House that day. Members say it will also feature unseen footage from the attack, and messages among organizers.

Along with putting this information out in the public, Reynolds says it also serves another purpose.

“I think it’s also for the historical record, you know, this was a historic event that happened. It was the most violence we’ve seen at the U.S. Capitol in certainly since the Civil War, if not before. And to have a coherent complete record of that history is also a really important part of the committee’s job.”

The political toll this decision could have on Cheney’s political career remains to be seem, but Cheney believes it’s the right thing to do, saying quote,

“We have to make a decision about whether we’re going to put our love of this country above partisanship. And to me, there’s just, there’s no gray area in that question.”

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