Former Republican Rep. Liz Cheney (Wyo.) urged the Supreme Court to reject former President Donald Trump’s claims of absolute immunity from prosecution when it hears arguments on the matter Thursday, saying his efforts to delay and dodge standing trial risk breaking American institutions of law and order.
Cheney, who served on the House select committee investigating the origins of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, wrote an opinion piece published in The New York Times on Sunday. In the piece, she said the Supreme Court should quickly rule against Trump’s efforts to see the federal indictment for his role in the insurrection tossed out. The former president has argued he should be immune from prosecution for anything he did while in office, a broad interpretation that would also imperil the cases against him in Georgia and Florida.
“As a criminal defendant, Mr. Trump has long had access to federal grand jury material relating to his Jan. 6 indictment and to all the testimony obtained by our select committee,” Cheney wrote in the piece. “He knows what all these witnesses have said under oath and understands the risks he faces at trial.”
“That’s why he is doing everything possible to try to delay his Jan. 6 federal criminal trial until after the November election,” she added.
The lawmaker stressed the work of the Jan. 6 House select committee, which released in 2022 a scathing report of Trump’s behavior, relied on testimony from dozens of Republicans who worked in the White House.
But she went on to note special counsel Jack Smith had gathered even more evidence in the government’s case against the former president, speaking to witnesses that refused to appear before House lawmakers, including former Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows and his former aide, Dan Scavino. Former Vice President Mike Pence also testified in Smith’s investigation.
Cheney said it was essential for all the evidence gathered during Smith’s investigation to be presented in court for the public to hear.
“All of this evidence should be presented in open court, so that the public can fully assess what Mr. Trump did on Jan. 6 and what a man capable of that type of depravity could do if again handed the awesome power of the presidency,” she wrote, later adding: “It cannot be that a president of the United States can attempt to steal an election and seize power but our justice system is incapable of bringing him to trial before the next election four years later.”
The lawmaker added the Supreme Court had shown it could act with haste when needed, and said the moment called for a quick, decisive decision that closes the door to further arguments from the former president.
“It cannot be that a president of the United States can attempt to steal an election and seize power but our justice system is incapable of bringing him to trial before the next election four years later,” she wrote. “The Supreme Court should understand this reality and conclude without delay that no immunity applies here.”