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After the House select committee investigating last year's Capitol riot voted on Monday to refer criminal charges to the Department of Justice (DOJ) for Donald Trump, the former president shared a succinct post on his Truth Social platform.
"...But Liz Chaney lost by a record 40 points!" Trump wrote.
The post was a reference to GOP Representative Liz Cheney, the vice chair of the mostly Democratic House panel. The Wyoming lawmaker was up for reelection this year, but was knocked out in the GOP primary by her Trump-endorsed challenger, Harriet Hageman.
Hageman received 66.3 percent of the primary vote in comparison to Cheney's 28.9 percent, according to Politico. This is a couple points shy of a 40-point win over Cheney. Hageman went on to win the House seat in the November midterm elections.
The select committee's vote on criminal referrals came as it is set to soon officially dissolve at the end of the current Congress. The panel's criminal accusations against the former president included inciting an insurrection, obstruction of Congress and conspiracy to defraud the U.S.
In a final report that was also issued Monday, the committee asserted that Trump was the "central cause" of the riot on January 6, 2021, USA Today reported, when a mob of his supporters stormed the Capitol in an effort to halt the certification of President Joe Biden's 2020 presidential election victory.
The House panel's criminal referrals are largely a symbolic move, since they do not obligate the DOJ to act. In fact, the department has been conducting its own investigation on the riot and will ultimately be responsible for deciding whether to bring criminal charges against any of the people who were allegedly involved.
Still, the referrals were a notable move because Trump is now the first former president in American history to be referred to the DOJ for criminal prosecution. In what was the last of a series of public meetings put on by the committee on Monday, Cheney sharply criticized Trump for his alleged role on January 6.
She called Trump, who has announced another bid for the White House in 2024, "unfit for any office."
Cheney has long been a vocal critic of Trump over his conduct surrounding the Capitol riot, making her a frequent target of his ire. The former president celebrated her primary loss in August, predicting that she would "disappear into the depths of political oblivion."
However, the end of her House term may not mark the end of her political career overall. Cheney has not ruled out a potential presidential run of her own in 2024.
The committee also referred four Republican representatives—Kevin McCarthy of California, Jim Jordan of Ohio, Scott Perry of Pennsylvania, and Andy Biggs of Arizona—to the House Ethics Committee for refusing to comply with subpoenas seeking information related to its January 6 investigation.
Newsweek reached out to a Trump spokesperson for comment.
About the writer
Zoe Strozewski is a Newsweek reporter based in New Jersey. Her focus is reporting on U.S. and global politics. Zoe ... Read more