Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
President Biden granted the former House Select Committee leaders Jan. 6 former Rep. Liz Cheney, Republican of Wyoming, and Rep. Bennie Thompson, Democrat of Mississippi, the second-highest civilian medal for their “exemplary acts of service to their country,” according to the White House.
“The Presidential Citizenship 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 that these Americans are bound together by their common decency and his commitment to serving others. The country is better for his dedication and sacrifice,” the White House said in a statement Thursday.
The White House announced that 20 people across the country will receive the Presidential Medal of Citizenship on Thursday, including Cheney and Thompson, who Biden praised as “fearless” and maintaining a “strong commitment to the truth.”
“Through two decades of public service, including as a congresswoman from Wyoming and vice chair of the committee on the January 6 attack, Liz Cheney has raised her voice and reached across the aisle to defend our nation and the ideals we stand for: Dignity and decency remind us all of what is possible if we work together,” the White House said in its statement.
FBI TO PROBE LIZ CHENEY’S ‘POTENTIAL’ ‘TAMPERING WITH WITNESSES’ JANUARY 6, HOUSE REPUBLICANS SAYS
Committee Vice Chair Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., speaks as the House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol holds its final meeting on Dec. 19, 2022. The committee chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss. , is shown on the left. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
“Born and raised in segregated Mississippi, as a college student inspired by the civil rights movement, Bennie Thompson volunteered in campaigns and registered black voters in the South. This call to serve eventually led him to Congress, where he presided the House Committee on January 6 … at the forefront of defending the rule of law with unwavering integrity and a steadfast commitment to the truth,” Thompson’s statement said.
Thompson served as chairman of the January 6 select committee, with Cheney as vice chairman. The January 6 committee was established in July 2021 to investigate violation of the US Capitol before that year by Trump supporters before President Biden officially took office on January 20. The January 6 committee investigation was conducted when Democrats were in control of the House.
The committee concluded its 18-month investigation in 2023, after Republicans regained control of the House and sent referrals to the Justice Department recommending that Trump be prosecuted for his involvement in preventing his supporters from violating the capitol
‘RIDICULOUS’: CHENEY RESPONDS TO TRUMP’S FLOATING EARLY TIME FOR J6 COMMITTEE MEMBERS
Chairman Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., speaks as the House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol holds a hearing on June 16, 2022. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
The commission consisted of seven Democrats and two Republican lawmakersCheney and Adam Kinzinger, both no longer in office.
Incoming Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, R-Wyo., reacted to Biden’s decision to award Cheney the medal in remarks on Fox Digital on Thursday, blasting her as a former elected official who “ represents partisanship and division.”
“President Biden was going to pardon Liz Cheney or give her an award. She doesn’t deserve one either. She represents partisanship and division, not Wyoming,” he said.
Republican elected officials and President-elect Donald Trump have criticized the committee and its leaders for years, with a recent House GOP report calling on the FBI to investigate Cheney for “potential criminal witness tampering” related to his paper on the old select committee.
Former Philadelphia Police Chief Al Schmidt testifies before Congress. (Jabin Botsford/Pool via REUTERS/File)
“Based on the evidence obtained by this Subcommittee, Liz Cheney, the former Vice Chair of the January 6th Select Committee, likely violated numerous federal laws, and those violations should be investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.” , stated a report published in the past. month for House Administration Subcommittee to Oversight Chairman Barry Loudermilk, R-Ga. “Evidence uncovered by the Subcommittee revealed that former Congresswoman Liz Cheney tampered with at least one witness, Cassidy Hutchinson, by secretly communicating with Hutchinson without Hutchinson’s attorney’s knowledge.”
Cheney and Thompson criticized the report in comments to Fox Digital last month.
DONALD TRUMP SAYS HE WILL PARDON JAN 6 RIOTERS ON DAY 1: ‘ACT VERY FAST’
“The Committee’s Jan. 6 hearings and report included dozens of Republican witnesses, including many of the most senior officials in the Trump White House, campaign and administration,” Cheney said. “All of this testimony was laid out painstakingly in thousands of pages of transcripts, made public along with a very detailed and meticulously obtained 800-page report. Now President Loudermilk’s ‘interim report’ willfully ignores the truth and the enormous weight of the select committee’s evidence, and instead fabricates lies and defamatory allegations in an attempt to cover up what Donald Trump did reflect a review of the actual evidence and they are a malicious and cowardly assault on the truth. No reputable lawyer, legislator or judge would take them seriously.”
President Biden (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images/File)
Cheney had been the third-ranking Republican in the House, but was ousted from her role as chair of the GOP conference by her colleagues in 2021. Cheney lost her bid in the 2022 primary for re-election to Rep. Trump-endorsed Harriet Hageman.
HOUSE GOP REPORT ALLEGES JAN 6 COMMITTEE “SUPLETED ARTICLES AND HIDDEN EVIDENCE”
The report followed speculation that Biden might 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 committee, suggesting she and Thompson could face jail time.
“Cheney did something that is inexcusable, along with Thompson and the people on the non-select committee of political thugs and, you know, creepy,“, he said in an interview with NBC. “They erased and destroyed all the evidence.”
“And Cheney was behind it. And so was Bennie Thompson and everyone on this committee,” he continued. “For what they did, honestly, they should go to jail.”
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
The Presidential Citizenship Medal is the second highest honor a civilian can receive from the president, after the Presidential Medal of Freedom, according to the Associated Press.
