Liz Cheney slapped away Jim Jordan from protecting her at Capitol riot: ‘You f***ing did this’, book claims

The former House GOP conference chair rejected an attempt by Rep Jim Jordan, one of her GOP colleagues, to direct female lawmakers to what he considered to be a safer area during the 6 January riot at the US Capitol, and laid the blame for the deaths and violence squarely at his feet.

Excerpts from I Alone Can Fix It, a book on the downfall of the Trump administration by Washington Post reporters Carol Leonnig and Philip Rucker, reveal that Ms Cheney described the incident in a phone call to Gen Mark Milley, chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, as the riot unfolded.

“That f***ing guy Jim Jordan. That son of a b*****”, she told Mr Milley, according to excerpts obtained by The Independent and first reported on CNN.

“While these maniacs are going through the place, I’m standing in the aisle and he said, ‘We need to get the ladies away from the aisle. Let me help you.’ I smacked his hand away and told him, ‘Get away from me. You f***ing did this’”, Ms Cheney added.

The explosive interaction was one of several that reportedly occurred during the time when senators and lawmakers were clustered in safe rooms with their staff, as rioters had breached the Senate floor and were rampaging through the hallways at the time.

Utah Sen Mitt Romney, one of a handful of Republicans to eventually support former President Donald Trump’s impeachment for inciting the violence, chastised Senator Josh Hawley, who was seen pumping his fist supportively at rioters, telling him: “You have caused this.”

Despite the obvious anger felt by some GOP lawmakers and their staff as they hid for their lives amid the attack, the vast majority of the GOP caucus voted against holding Mr Trump accountable for the riot in an impeachment vote earlier this year, though the former president saw the largest defection from his party in history.

Many of the same lawmakers would go on to vote against establishing a select commission to examine the events of 6 January, despite calls from Democrats to support the dozens of members of law enforcement who were injured during the attack; two others died from suicide in the days following, and one died after sustaining injuries during the riot.

Video of the bloody day on Capitol Hill showed rioters savagely attacking law enforcement, vandalising the Capitol, and stealing objects from lawmakers’ offices.