Trump trolls Cheney for primary loss after Jan. 6 committee refers him to DOJ for criminal charges

After the House select committee investigating the events at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, voted to refer him to the Department of Justice for criminal charges on Monday, former President Donald Trump mocked committee member Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., for losing her primary contest by a decisive margin.

The committee unanimously voted to refer Trump to the DOJ after holding hearings and investigating the matter for nearly two years. It faces certain dissolution upon the Republican takeover of the House in January. Trump has long derided the committee's activities as a political witch hunt and contended that prominent committee member Cheney, one of just two Republicans on the committee, has pursued a personal vendetta against him.

Trump's curt response to the committee vote was to reference Cheney's impending departure from the House, saying on Truth Social "...But Liz Chaney lost by a record 40 points!" He offered no context and did not directly address the criminal referrals.

Cheney, for her part, was one of several Republicans who voted to impeach Trump following the Jan. 6, 2021, disturbances and has remained firm in her opposition to the former president. Republicans previously removed her from her leadership position in the party and she subsequently lost her primary contest to Trump-backed Harriet Hageman by a considerable margin.

The anti-Trump lawmaker has since gone on to endorse Democratic candidates nationwide and vowed to dedicate herself to opposing Trump's return to the White House. Some Never Trump figures have suggested she may have presidential ambitions of her own.