Liz Cheney pushes the DOJ to charge Trump, says passing on prosecution if there's enough evidence risks the US no longer being 'a nation of laws'

The US reputation as a nation of laws is at risk if the DOJ doesn't charge Donald Trump, according to Rep. Liz Cheney.

In an interview with CNN, Cheney said the "facts and the evidence are there" to support charges against Trump.

Cheney is a member of the committee that investigated the riot and it is said that Trump is to blame.

She said that Trump was guilty of the most serious dereliction of duty of any president in the history of the nation.

—CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) August 4, 2022

The committee will follow the facts. The Department of Justice is likely to do that. They have to decide about prosecution.

How do we call ourselves a nation of laws if we don't prosecute if the facts are there? Cheney thinks that's a very serious, serious balancing.

The committee has accused Trump of pushing false claims about the election even though he knew they were not true. On January 6, 2021, supporters attacked the Capitol in a bid to stop Biden from being president.

Cassidy Hutchinson, a former White House aide, has claimed that Trump wanted to join his supporters in a march on the Capitol. People in Trump's circle arranged the protest, according to others.

The January 6 committee could make a criminal referral of Trump to the DOJ.

It wouldn't obligate the DOJ to act, but it would force the attorney general to make a decision on whether to charge Trump with a crime.

Pat Cipollone, the former White House counsel, was subpoenaed this week by the Justice Department, which is investigating the Capitolriot and trying to overturn the 2020 election. The probe had begun to look at former members of the inner circle. There is a different route to the possible indictment of Trump.

Trump denies wrongdoing in relation to the riot and says he believes his election- fraud claims.

It has been suggested that charging Trump could make him more popular with his supporters.

Political calculations shouldn't be a factor in the decision over criminal charges according to Cheney.

Cheney doesn't think it's appropriate to think about it that way.

Cheney faces a Trump-backed challenger for a Wyoming congressional seat in the Republican primary in August, after being ostracized from the GOP for opposing Trump.