Republicans censure Cheney, Kinzinger, call Jan. 6 probe attack on
'legitimate political discourse'
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[February 05, 2022]
By Doina Chiacu
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The Republican Party
on Friday censured U.S. Representatives Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger
for joining Congress' investigation of the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack
and Donald Trump's efforts to overturn his 2020 presidential election
defeat, calling the probe an attack on "legitimate political discourse."
Cheney and Kinzinger are the only Republicans on the House of
Representatives Jan. 6 select committee. The panel is investigating who
-- including people in Trump's circle -- had any role in planning or
enabling the worst assault on the U.S. Capitol since the War of 1812.
The resolution censuring Cheney and Kinzinger, approved at a Republican
National Committee meeting in Salt Lake City, accused them of
"participating in a Democrat-led persecution of ordinary citizens
engaged in legitimate political discourse."
Thousands of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol that day, smashing
windows, assaulting police officers and sending lawmakers and then-Vice
President Mike Pence running for their lives after Trump made a fiery
speech repeating his false claims that his election defeat was the
result of widespread fraud.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2022/Feb/05/images/ads/current/ldn_sda_062409.png)
Friday's vote was dramatically different in tone from a statement the
Republican National Committee released the day of the attack, when it
said "these violent scenes we have witnessed do not represent acts of
patriotism, but an attack on our country and its founding principles."
RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said Friday's resolution targeted the Jan.
6 committee probe, which has subpoenaed a range of politicians and Trump
White House aides as it tries to piece together their role in events
leading to the assault.
"Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger crossed a line. They chose to join Nancy
Pelosi in a Democrat-led persecution of ordinary citizens who engaged in
legitimate political discourse that had nothing to do with violence at
the Capitol," she said. She said she "condemned violence on both sides
of the aisle."
The resolution passed on a voice vote as 168 members of the RNC gathered
for their winter meeting. The yes votes were overwhelming, with a
handful of nays, according to reporters at the meeting.
Cheney and Kinzinger voted to impeach Trump on a charge of incitement of
insurrection, and they joined the seven Democrats on the panel
investigating the attack.
The resolution said Cheney and Kinzinger have damaged Republican efforts
to win back majorities in Congress.
The measure said the RNC will "immediately cease any and all support of
them" as party members, but stops short of calling for their ouster from
the party, as initially proposed. The committee uses some of its funds
to help support Republican candidates in their campaigns.
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The Republican Party on Friday censured U.S. Representatives Liz
Cheney and Adam Kinzinger for joining Congress' investigation of the
Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol attack and Donald Trump's efforts to overturn
his 2020 presidential election defeat, calling the probe an attack
on "legitimate political discourse."
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2022/Feb/05/images/ads/current/castlemanor_sda_FINANCIAL_2017.png) Trump, who retains a strong grip
over his party as the Nov. 8 midterm congressional elections draw
closer, has been on the warpath against Republicans who have taken a
stand against him. Republicans are trying to take control of both
the House and the Senate from President Joe Biden's Democrats.
'PERSONS OF CONSCIENCE'
Both lawmakers issued statements in anticipation of Friday's vote.
"The leaders of the Republican Party have made themselves willing
hostages to a man who admits he tried to overturn a presidential
election and suggests he would pardon Jan. 6 defendants, some of
whom have been charged with seditious conspiracy," Cheney said,
referring to the hundreds of Trump supporters accused of various
crimes in the violent attack.
Four people died on Jan. 6, and a Capitol Police officer died the
next day. About 140 police officers were injured, and four later
died by suicide.
Cheney said she does not recognize those in her party who "abandoned
the Constitution to embrace Donald Trump," who has endorsed her
challenger in the Wyoming Republican primary.
Kinzinger, who is not seeking re-election, said he has been a
conservative Republican since before Trump entered politics. He
vowed to continue "working to fight the political matrix that's led
us to this point."
House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy, in an interview with Fox
News, did not comment on the censure but criticized the House
committee as purely political.
Not all Republicans are lining up against the two.
Republican Senator Mitt Romney praised Cheney and Kinzinger as
honorable in a Twitter post on Friday. "Shame falls on a party that
would censure persons of conscience, who seek truth in the face of
vitriol," he wrote.
At least 71 Republican members of Congress transferred money last
year to the campaigns of congressional Republicans, including
Cheney's, that supported booting Trump from office, a Reuters
analysis found.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2022/Feb/05/images/ads/current/humanesociety_sda022411.png)
Republican Senator Bill Cassidy came to their defense late Thursday,
writing on Twitter, "The RNC is censuring Liz Cheney and Adam
Kinzinger because they are trying to find out what happened on
January 6th - HUH?"
(Reporting by Doina Chiacu and Steve Holland; editing by Jonathan
Oatis, Aurora Ellis and Cynthia Osterman)
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