Liz Cheney’s Message to Supreme Court After Donald Trump Hearing

Former Representative Liz Cheney, a Wyoming Republican, posted a message on social media after former President Donald Trump’s case regarding presidential immunity was heard before the U.S. Supreme Court this week.

The Court on Thursday heard oral arguments in Trump v. United States, in which the former president’s attorney argued that all presidents are entitled to legal immunity for actions taken during their time in office. Trump’s legal team brought the case in response to U.S. Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith’s case related to the former president’s alleged efforts to overturn President Joe Biden’s 2020 election win. Trump has maintained his innocence in the case.

During the questioning, some of the top Court’s justices appeared skeptical that presidents should have absolute immunity from criminal prosecution from private acts during their time as commander-in-chief. However, a majority of the justices appeared open to some type of immunity for official acts taken by a president.

The justices’ remarks in the hearing led many analysts to predict that the Supreme Court may return the case to a lower court to distinguish whether the individual charges in Smith’s case relate to official or private acts. As a result, many analysts expect Trump’s trial in the federal case could be delayed and may not take place prior to the election.

Cheney who became one of Trump’s staunchest critics following the January 6, 2021, riot carried out by his supporters at the U.S. Capitol, commented on the case in a Friday post on X, formerly Twitter. She urged the Supreme Court to “rule quickly and decisively.”

The conservative politician wrote that the president “has no official role in the 1/6 count. When a candidate pressures/threatens the President of the Senate (Pence), pressures and lobbies state legislatures & members of Congress, and oversees a fraudulent elector scheme, his acts are private. And plotting to appoint an AG in a quid pro quo for help on 1/6 parallels CJ Roberts’ [Chief Justice John Roberts] bribery hypo.”

“Trump told SCOTUS in his 12/9/20 brief that he was filing in his ‘personal capacity as a candidate.’ The Court need not resolve more difficult immunity Qs not at issue here. Rule quickly and decisively,” Cheney wrote.

Newsweek reached out to Trump’s spokesperson and Cheney’s organization Our Great Task via email for comment on Saturday.

Trump has repeatedly criticized Cheney. In March, he wrote on his social media platform Truth Social that “she should go to Jail along with the rest of the Unselect Committee!” The former president was referencing the January 6 House select committee, which was formed in response to the Capitol riot, using the nickname he gave to the congressional investigatory body.

As Cheney wrote in Friday’s post, Trump joined a lawsuit spearheaded by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton that sought to overturn the 2020 election results in four states critical to Biden’s win; Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin. The motion from Trump said it was filed in “in his personal capacity as a candidate for re-election.” The Supreme Court declined to hear that lawsuit.

Cheney also referenced former Vice President Mike Pence in her post, as Trump had urged him to refuse to certify the election results from several critical states on January 6 during a joint-session of Congress. Pence declined, saying he believed such an action would be unconstitutional.

Although Cheney voted with Trump more than 90 percent of the time during her tenure in Congress while he was president, she became one of his most outspoken critics following his refusal to concede the 2020 election. As a result, the Republican was ousted from her position as House Republican Conference chair in May 2021.

Cheney went on to serve as one of two GOP lawmakers on the House select committee investigating January 6. She then lost her 2022 Republican primary in Wyoming to a Trump-aligned candidate, but has remained a prominent conservative voice routinely warning against what many perceive to be the dangers presented by the former president and his faction of the GOP.