Liz Cheney Says Jan. 6 Committee Exploring ‘Enhanced Criminal Penalties’ For Trump

Rep. Liz Cheney, who co-chairs the House Jan. 6 Committee, said Sunday that the panel is exploring the possibility of recommending “enhanced criminal penalties” for former President Donald Trump over his actions surrounding the insurrection on the Capitol by his followers last year.

The Wyoming Republican appeared on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” where she also told host Chuck Todd that the investigation’s findings the committee is going to release will include new information about the riot that was intended to keep Trump in power at the White House.

“Well, I think certainly our first priority is to make recommendations,” Cheney said. “We’re looking at things like do we need additional enhanced criminal penalties for the kind of supreme dereliction of duty that you saw with President Trump when he refused to tell the mob to go home after he had provoked that attack on the Capitol.

“So there will be legislative recommendations and there certainly will be new information.”

Earlier this month, committee Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) said that the panel was aiming to wrap up depositions with witnesses by the beginning of April. The committee has spoken to almost 700 witnesses and publicly issued 90 subpoenas, according to CBS News, targeting people from Trump’s inner circle to Jan. 6 rally organizers and far-right extremists.

The committee will then begin going public with its information, with public hearings next month and a planned interim report in June before the final report.

On March 2, the committee said its evidence shows Trump and his associates engaged in a “criminal conspiracy” to prevent Congress from certifying the results of the presidential election, spread disinformation about it, and pressured state officials to overturn the results. Cheney, one of the few Republicans who voted to impeach Trump over the insurrection, said that she has remained just as concerned ever since joining the committee.

“And I can tell you I have not learned a single thing since I’ve been on this committee that has made me less concerned or less worried about the gravity of the situation and the actions that President Trump took and also refused to take while the attack was underway.”

This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.