Trump offers brief retort to Jan 6 committee meeting after criminal referral

Donald Trump offered a brief retort to the January 6 committee meeting after they recommended several criminal charges against him.

“…But Liz Chaney lost by a record 40 points!” Mr Trump wrote on Truth Social on Monday, referring to the outgoing Wyoming Republican’s loss in her August primary.

Ms Cheney lost to Trump-backed Harriet Hageman, who received more than 66 per cent of the votes, while Ms Cheney got 28 per cent.

Mr Trump was referred to the Justice Department under four criminal statutes by the committee – obstructing an official proceeding, making false statements, defrauding the US, as well as inciting an insurrection.

Ms Cheney delivered a blistering speech against Mr Trump during the final meeting of the panel.

“January 6 2021 was the first time an American president refused his constitutional duty to transfer power peacefully to the next,” the outgoing Wyoming Republican said on Monday. “In our work over the last 18 months, the Select Committee has recognized our obligation to do everything we can to ensure this never happens again.”

“At the beginning of our investigation, we understood that tens of millions of Americans had been persuaded by President Trump that the 2020 election was stolen by overwhelming fraud,” she said. “And we also knew this was flatly false. We knew that dozens of state and federal judges had addressed and resolved all manner of allegations about the election.”

“Our legal system functioned as it should but our president would not accept the outcome. Among the most shameful of this committee’s findings, was that President Trump sat in the dining room off the Oval Office watching the violent riot at the Capitol, on television for hours,” Ms Cheney added. “He would not issue a public statement instructing his supporters to disperse and leave the Capitol, despite urgent pleas from his White House staff and dozens of others to do so.”

“Members of his family, his White House lawyers, virtually all those around him knew that this simple act was critical. For hours, he would not do it,” she said.