Trump Says Former Rep. Liz Cheney Should Be ‘Jailed’ For ‘Withholding’ Information On Jan. 6, Cheney Calls It ‘Lies’

Former President Donald Trump called for the jailing of former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyoming) and the rest of the January 6 Committee for “withholding information” about their investigation into his actions during the U.S. Capitol riot.

Trump made this claim based on a report from an obscure website that disputed the testimony from a former White House staffer Cassidy Hutchinson.

In June 2022, Hutchinson appeared at the House Committee’s sixth public hearing regarding the Capitol riots.

She testified that Tony Ornato, the White House deputy chief of operations, called her into his office and shared a story that Agent Bobby Engel, head of Trump’s Secret Service detail, reported shared to him moments before. 

He told Hutchinson that the former president entered a transport vehicle but was “irate” when told he could not go to the Capitol, saying that he was “the f—ing President”, and had demanded the driver to take him “up to the Capitol now.”

When the agent denied this request, Hutchinson testified under oath that Trump attempted to grab the steering wheel from the back seat and “used his free hand to lunge towards” Engel when his demand had been rejected.

She then mentioned that Trump seemed to be aiming for the agent’s clavicles and that Engel was in the room as she heard this story.

In a Truth Social Post made on March 17, Trump shared a Just the News article, “Democrats’ Jan. 6 panel withheld crucial evidence, including denial from Trump driver: new report,” by John Solomon.

“[Cheney] should go to Jail along with the rest of the Unselect Committee,” Trump wrote in this post.

On the same day, Trump created another post on Truth Social in which he shared the article, “J6 Committee’s Suppressed Evidence Scandal Exonerates Trump From ‘Insurrection’ Narrative,” by Kash Patel.

Patel claimed that Cheney and the January 6 committee had concealed evidence about Trump’s authorization of at least 10,000 National Guard troops to sustain order during the Capitol Attack.

“[Cheney] SHOULD BE PROSECUTED FOR WHAT SHE HAS DONE TO OUR COUNTRY,” the former president stated. “SHE ILLEGALLY DESTROYED THE EVIDENCE. UNREAL!!!”

On March 17, Cheney responded to Trump’s posts on X, formerly known as Twitter.

“Hi Donald: you know these are lies,” the former representative wrote. “You have had all the grand jury & J6 transcripts for many months. You’re trying to halt your 1/6 trial because your VP, WH counsel, WH aides, campaign & DOJ officials etc. will testify against you. You’re afraid of the truth and you should be.”

In December 2023, Cheney said that if Trump were to be reelected, he would try to establish himself as a permanent president and refuse to leave office after the constitutionally mandated two-term limit.

In January, Trump also used Truth Social to spread unproven information by claiming that Cheney deleted or destroyed evidence from the “January 6 Committee of Political Thugs and Misfits,” as he referred to it on Truth Social.