Liz Cheney Slams GOP Senator For Pushing Pro-Trump Jan. 6th Conspiracy Theory: ‘You Know What You’re Doing Is Wrong’
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Former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY), once the chair of the House GOP Conference, tore into Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) on Monday after the Utah Republican parroted a baseless and widely debunked conspiracy theory aimed at absolving former President Donald Trump of any culpability for the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol.
On Friday, Lee posted twice to social media pushing the conspiracy theory that the federal government was behind the Jan. 6 riot, aimed at preventing the electoral vote count so that Trump could remain in office.
He replied to Cheney sharing footage from that day and wrote, “Liz, we’ve seen footage like that a million times. You made sure we saw that—and nothing else. It’s the other stuff—what you deliberately hid from us—that we find so upsetting. Nice try. P.S. How many of these guys are feds? (As if you’d ever tell us).”
Cheney replied to that tweet, “Hey @BasedMikeLee – heads up. A nutball conspiracy theorist appears to be posting from your account.”
Lee then followed that up by sharing an image that purported to show someone on Jan. 6th “flashing a badge.”
“I can’t wait to ask FBI Director Christopher Wray about this at our next oversight hearing,” wrote on Lee on Twitter in response to the image. “I predict that, as always, his answers will be 97% information-free.”
The post that Lee shared was quickly fact-check by Twitter and slap with a community label that read, “The person is not flashing a badge. He is not a government employee or source. It is Kevin Lyons, who was recently sentenced to 4 years in jail for his actions on January 6th. He called police officers ‘Nazis.’”
Cheney replied to Lee on Monday, writing, “You’re a lawyer, Mike. You’re capable of understanding the scores of J6 verdicts & rulings in our federal courts. E.g. https://justice.gov/usao-dc/capitol-breach-cases…. You didn’t object to electors on J6 because you knew what Trump was doing was unconstitutional & you know what you’re doing now is wrong.”
The conspiracy theory that January 6th was somehow a false flag operation coordinated by the federal government has permeated the far-right in recent years and was most prominently pushed by then Fox News host Tucker Carlson and his highly controversial and conspiratorial series Patriot Purge.
