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Republican Wyoming Representative Liz Cheney, one of the lead Members of Congress on the select House committee on the January 6 coup attempt, has spent most of the past two years at odds with her party.
And she is showing no signs of backing down any time soon.
After her Republican colleague, far-right Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton, criticized the January 6 hearings with a thinly-veiled white supremacist dog whistle and then admitted he hadn't watched any of them, Cheney immediately fired back.
Posting a blistering tweet in response to Cotton's comments, Cheney perfectly skewered his credibility on the subject while also underlining his hypocrisy.
\u201cHey @SenTomCotton - heard you on @hughhewitt criticizing the Jan 6 hearings.\n\nThen you said the strangest thing; you admitted you hadn\u2019t watched any of them.\n\nHere\u2019s a tip: actually watching them before rendering judgment is more consistent with \u201cAnglo-American jurisprudence.\u201d\u201d— Rep. Liz Cheney (@Rep. Liz Cheney) 1658787637
Cheney tweeted:
"Hey @SenTomCotton - heard you on @hughhewitt criticizing the Jan 6 hearings."
"Then you said the strangest thing; you admitted you hadn’t watched any of them."
"Here’s a tip: actually watching them before rendering judgment is more consistent with 'Anglo-American jurisprudence.'"
Her clapback comes following Cotton's appearance on conservative commentator Hugh Hewitt's talk show, in which he criticized the hearings as anti-democratic.
“I think what you’ve seen over the last few week is why Anglo-American jurisprudence going back centuries has found that adversarial inquiry, cross-examination is the best way to get at the truth."
“There is no one on that committee who takes a view different from Nancy Pelosi, or even a view that’s like, we should examine the full context of all of these statements, of all of these recordings, of all of this video."
Aside from the white nationalist overtones of the notion of "Anglo-American jurisprudence," the criticism is absurd on its face--cross-examination is rarely part of a hearing, the purpose of which is to, well, hear evidence.
More importantly, most sitting Republican Members of Congress have refused to take part in the hearings. Regardless, the Republican viewpoint has hardly been absent--nearly every witness to testify in the hearings has been a Republican, many of them close allies of former Republican President Donald Trump.
Even if Cotton's allegations were true, however, he certainly wouldn't know about it--he told Hewitt "I have not watched any of the hearings" beyond clips he's seen on news shows.
On Twitter, many applauded Cheney's response to Cotton and thanked her for being one of the few Republicans with a conscience when it comes to the January 6 insurrection.
\u201c@RepLizCheney @SenTomCotton @hughhewitt Thank you Rep Cheney and all on the committee. Keep up the good work. \nhttps://t.co/ocNsEZBpOs\u201d— Rep. Liz Cheney (@Rep. Liz Cheney) 1658787637
\u201c@RepLizCheney @SenTomCotton @hughhewitt Changing my party affiliation to vote for Liz Cheney in the primary. Will change it back to D after that. I have never voted for a republican, so there's that.\u201d— Rep. Liz Cheney (@Rep. Liz Cheney) 1658787637
\u201c@RepLizCheney @SenTomCotton @hughhewitt I do not align whatsoever with your politics but I respect and appreciate what you are doing for democracy. It's a shame your colleagues lack the commitment to the country and courage that you and Kitzinger have. Thank you\u201d— Rep. Liz Cheney (@Rep. Liz Cheney) 1658787637
\u201cComing from the guy who said he was an Army Ranger but actually only attended the 2-month training course, I'm not sure Tom Cotton is capable of telling the truth.\n\nThat's what makes him the perfect Republican.\u201d— The Jewish Ginger Resister (@The Jewish Ginger Resister) 1658817453
\u201c@RepLizCheney @SenTomCotton @hughhewitt The people who scream the loudest over the J6 hearings haven't even seen them.\u201d— Rep. Liz Cheney (@Rep. Liz Cheney) 1658787637
\u201c@RepLizCheney @SenTomCotton @hughhewitt I wish more politicians had your courage.\u201d— Rep. Liz Cheney (@Rep. Liz Cheney) 1658787637
\u201c@RepLizCheney @SenTomCotton @hughhewitt You and the rest of the committee are doing very important work. Literally trying to save our democracy. Thank you.\u201d— Rep. Liz Cheney (@Rep. Liz Cheney) 1658787637
\u201c@RepLizCheney @Acyn @SenTomCotton @hughhewitt Of course he's watched them.\n\nHe has to pretend he didn't so he won't have to comment on any of the very damning facts that have been presented.\u201d— Rep. Liz Cheney (@Rep. Liz Cheney) 1658787637
\u201cSo consistently Trumpian.\u201d— Steve the skeptic (@Steve the skeptic) 1658792495
\u201c@RepLizCheney @SenTomCotton @hughhewitt Tom Cotton right now.\u201d— Rep. Liz Cheney (@Rep. Liz Cheney) 1658787637
The January 6 committee announced after last week's hearing that it will continue working on its case through the summer and there may be additional hearings for Cotton and his ilk to criticize without watching in the fall.