Liz Cheney urges ‘every American’ to watch Capitol riot footage on six month anniversary

Wyoming Republican Rep Liz Cheney encouraged “every American” to watch a 40-minute documentary detailing the events of the insurrection at the Capitol.

“Six months ago today our Capitol and Constitution were attacked. Every American should watch this,” Ms Cheney tweeted on Tuesday – linking to an investigation by The New York Times that lays out the events of 6 January.

Ms Cheney was offered one of the seats on the congressional select committee investigating the Capitol riot established by Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

“We are very honoured and proud she has agreed to serve on the committee,” Ms Pelosi said on Thursday. The committee will be led by Mississippi Democrat Bennie Thompson.

Ms Pelosi’s move to appoint a Republican to one of the seats shows her desire for the investigation to be bipartisan. But even with Ms Cheney on the panel, Republicans are likely to dismiss its findings as a partisan political hit job.

Ms Cheney was booted from the Republican House leadership after she refused to stop criticising former President Donald Trump for his lies claiming that the 2020 election was stolen from him.

Mr Trump was impeached by the House for inciting the insurrection on 6 January, when a mob of his supporters laid siege to the Capitol in order to stop the certification of President Joe Biden’s election victory. Five lives were lost. Ms Cheney was one of ten Republicans to vote to impeach Mr Trump. He as later acquitted by the Senate.

“I’m honoured to have been named to serve on the January 6th select committee. Congress is obligated to conduct a full investigation of the most serious attack on our Capitol since 1814. That day saw the most sacred space in our Republic overrun by an angry and violent mob attempting to stop the counting of electoral votes and threatening the peaceful transfer of power,” Ms Cheney said in a written statement.

“Those who are responsible for the attack need to be held accountable and this select committee will fulfil that responsibility in a professional, expeditious, and non-partisan manner,” she added.

Republican House Minority Leader, California Rep Kevin McCarthy, made his displeasure abundantly clear.

“It would seem to me, since I didn’t hear from her, that maybe she’s closer to (Pelosi) than us,” Mr McCarthy said. He previously told his Republican colleagues that he would strip any committee assignments from them if they accepted an offer from Ms Pelosi to serve on the committee.

“I don’t know in history where someone would go get their committee assignments from the speaker and expect them to have them from the conference as well,” he said during a press conference last week.

“No one can recall an example, but when was the last time the Capitol was sacked and one of the parties (tried) to whitewash it?” a Democratic aide responded, according to CNN.