President Biden awarded the award leaders of the former January 6 House Select Committee, former Republican Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney and Democratic Mississippi Rep. Bennie Thompson, received the second-highest civilian medal for their “exemplary acts of service to their country,” the White House said.
“The Presidential Citizens Medal is awarded to citizens of the United States of America who have performed exemplary acts of service to their country or their fellow citizens. President Biden believes these Americans are united by their common decency and commitment to serving others. better because of their dedication and sacrifice,” the White House said in a statement Thursday.
The White House announced that 20 people across the country would receive the Presidential Citizens Medal on Thursday, including Cheney and Thompson, who praised Biden as “fearless” and “steadfastly committed to the truth.”
“During two decades of public service, including as Wyoming Congresswoman and Vice Chair of the January 6 Attack Commission, Liz Cheney has raised her voice – and reached across the aisle – to defend our nation and the ideals for which we stand to defend: Freedom. Dignity and decency. Her integrity and fearlessness remind us all of what is possible when we work together,” the White House said in its statement from Cheney.
Committee Vice Chair Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., speaks as the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol holds its final meeting on Dec. 19, 2022. Committee Chair Bennie Thompson, D-Miss. , is shown on the left. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
“Born and raised in segregated Mississippi, Bennie Thompson, inspired as a student by the civil rights movement, volunteered in campaigns and registered southern black voters. That call to serve ultimately led him to Congress, where he chaired the House of Representatives January 6 Committee – at the forefront of defending the rule of law with unwavering integrity and an unwavering commitment to the truth,” said the statement about Thompson.
Thompson chaired the Jan. 6 select committee, while Cheney served as vice chairman. The January 6 committee was established in July 2021 to investigate the breach of the US Capitol previously that year by Trump supporters before President Biden officially took office on January 20. The January 6 committee investigation was conducted when Democrats had control of the House of Representatives.
The committee concluded its 18-month investigation in 2023, after Republicans regained control of the House of Representatives, and sent referrals to the Justice Department recommending that Trump face criminal charges for his involvement leading up to the his supporters’ breach of the Capitol.
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Chairman Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., speaks as the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol holds a hearing on June 16, 2022. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
The committee consisted of seven people Democrats and two Republican lawmakersCheney and Adam Kinzinger, both of whom are no longer in office.
John Barrasso, R-Wyo. of the incoming Senate majority, responded to Biden’s decision to award Cheney the medal in a commentary on Fox Digital on Thursday, calling her a former elected official who “represents partisanship and division.”
“President Biden would pardon Liz Cheney or give her an award. She doesn’t deserve it either. She represents partisanship and division, not Wyoming,” he said.
Republican elected officials and President-elect Donald Trump have railed against the commission and its leaders for years, with a recent Republican House report calling on the FBI to investigate Cheney for “possible criminal witness tampering” in connection with her role in the former select committee.
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Former Philadelphia Police Chief Al Schmidt testifies before Congress. (Jabin Botsford/Pool via REUTERS/File)
“Based on the evidence obtained by this subcommittee, numerous federal laws were likely violated by Liz Cheney, the former vice chair of the January 6 Select Committee, and these violations should be investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation,” according to a recent report has been released. month Subcommittee on House Administration about supervisory chairman Rep. Barry Loudermilk, R-Ga. “Evidence uncovered by the Subcommittee shows that former Congresswoman Liz Cheney tampered with at least one witness, Cassidy Hutchinson, by secretly communicating with Hutchinson without the knowledge of Hutchinson’s attorney.”
Cheney and Thompson both dismissed the report in comments to Fox Digital last month.
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“The Jan. 6 committee hearings and report featured dozens of Republican witnesses, including many of the top officials from Trump’s own White House, campaign and administration,” Cheney said. “All of this testimony was meticulously detailed in thousands of pages of transcripts, made public along with a highly detailed and carefully compiled 800-page report. Now Chairman Loudermilk’s ‘interim report’ willfully ignores the truth and the vast amount of evidence from the Select Committee. , and instead makes up lies and defamatory accusations in an attempt to cover up what Donald Trump has done. No reputable attorney, lawmaker, or judge would take this seriously.”
President Biden (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images/File)
Cheney was the third-ranking Republican in the House of Representatives, but was ousted from her role as GOP conference chair by her colleagues in 2021. Cheney lost her 2022 primary for re-election to Trump-backed Rep. Harriet Hageman.
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The report followed speculation that Biden could grant Cheney a presidential pardon before leaving the Oval Office. Late last year, Trump renewed his long-standing criticism of Cheney and the Jan. 6 commission, suggesting that she and Thompson could face jail time.
“Cheney has done something that is inexcusable, along with Thompson and the people on the non-select committee of political thugs and, you know, creeps,he said in an interview with NBC. “They removed and destroyed all the evidence.”
“And Cheney was behind it. And so did Bennie Thompson and everyone on that committee,” he continued. “For what they did, quite frankly, they should go to jail.”
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The Presidential Citizens Medal is the second-highest award a citizen can receive from the president, after the Presidential Medal of Freedom, according to the Associated Press.
