Oath and Honor: A Memoir and a Warning

by Liz Cheney

Since 1797, when George Washington voluntarily handed the power of the presidency to John Adams, every American president had fulfilled his solemn obligation to guarantee the peaceful transfer of power—until Donald Trump.

Elected officials who believe their own political survival is more important than anything else threaten the survival of our republic, no matter what they tell themselves to justify their cowardice.

Politicians who minimize the threat, repeat the lies, or enable the liar are not fit for office.

Later that night, Donald Trump fired Chris Krebs, director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency at the Department of Homeland Security. Appointed by Trump himself, Krebs had spent two years working to harden America’s election systems from outside interference. In the aftermath of the election, Krebs repeatedly countered Trump’s false stolen-election claims. On November 12, Krebs had issued a joint statement with other state and federal election officials explaining that “the 2020 election was the most secure in American history” and that “there is no evidence that any voting system deleted or lost votes, changed votes, or was in any way compromised.”

And a court in New York reached this conclusion about Rudy Giuliani: “[Giuliani] communicated demonstrably false and misleading statements to the courts, lawmakers, and the public at large in his capacity as lawyer for former President Donald J. Trump and the Trump Campaign in connection with Trump’s failed effort at reelection in 2020.”

That’s the rule of law. If he had a basis, Donald Trump had the right to bring election challenges in court. What neither he nor any other candidate has the right to do is ignore the rulings of those courts.

Never did any of Trump’s allegations of fraud—including supposed fraud by Dominion Voting Systems, by Smartmatic, or by any other voting machine or software company—prove to be true. None of it was backed up by evidence.

The phrase “utilize that system to the very end, and then if that doesn’t work, we will take our country back” was striking. In a constitutional republic, a candidate can utilize the system to the very end, and if that doesn’t work, they concede. What Pierson was suggesting was something else entirely—and it sounded unconstitutional.

General Michael Flynn, who had received a presidential pardon from Donald Trump less than a month earlier, spoke shortly after Pierson. When Flynn stepped up to speak, he said he was absolutely confident that Donald Trump would remain president.

In the early hours of December 19, when the meeting finally ended, Donald Trump summoned his supporters to Washington, DC, tweeting: “Big protest in D.C. on January 6th. Be there, will be wild!”

As is typical for Cruz, he was grandstanding for his own benefit. It was one of the worst cases of abandonment of duty for personal ambition I’ve ever seen in Washington. Judge J. Michael Luttig, for whom Ted Cruz had clerked after law school, described it this way: “Such is Republican politics of the moment, that presidential and congressional aspirants will purchase the former president’s blessing and approval at any price.”

People died on January 6 because of Donald Trump’s lies. Had it not been for the actions of courageous members of law enforcement, many more lives likely would have been lost.

As I rushed down the stairs and through the Capitol tunnels, I knew already that Donald Trump had to be impeached and removed from office. He was a clear and present danger. His actions, including mobilizing the violent mob that was now laying siege to the Capitol, were undoubtedly impeachable offenses. Every minute that passed without an unambiguous public statement telling the mob to leave the Capitol made the case for impeachment and removal even stronger. The president’s unlawful conduct was endangering the republic.

WHILE THE HOUSE CHAMBER WAS being evacuated, Mike Pence and his family were rushed from his office on the Senate side of the Capitol into a basement garage. The mob was hunting the vice president and chanting “Hang Mike Pence!” Donald Trump poured gasoline on the flames, tweeting at 2:24 p.m.: Mike Pence didn’t have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution, giving States a chance to certify a corrected set of facts, not the fraudulent or inaccurate ones which they were asked to previously certify. USA demands the truth! In his speech on the Ellipse that morning, Donald Trump had told the angry crowd that Mike Pence could secure Trump’s victory. Now, as the rioters were invading the Capitol, Trump was telling them that Mike Pence had refused to do what they all demanded. Our investigation later demonstrated how this tweet further inflamed the violent mob, causing rioters both inside and outside the Capitol to surge forward. Our investigation also showed that, at the moment Trump sent this tweet, he knew there was a violent attack underway at the Capitol.

Terrorists couldn’t shake the foundations of our republic, but what if an American president refused to guarantee the peaceful transition of power? What if he attempted to overturn an election in order to stay in power, ignored the rulings of the courts, mobilized a violent mob, and provoked them to attack and invade the Capitol? An American president willing to do those things was a threat unlike any we had ever faced before—a direct threat to the foundations of our republic.

Mo Brooks of Alabama had given an incendiary speech to the crowd at the Ellipse on January 6, and some of our members were urging that he be stripped of his committee assignments. A few hours before the Capitol invasion, Brooks, yelling into the microphone, had directed the crowd to go to the Capitol, where they would find members of Congress. He said that Senators and House members opposed to the objections were choosing “to turn America into a godless, amoral, dictatorial, oppressed, and socialist nation in decline.” Targeting those members, Brooks told the crowd: “Today is the day American patriots start taking down names and kicking ass!”

The impeachment article identified Trump’s many false election claims “in the months preceding the Joint Session,” as well as Trump’s claims that the state electoral results “should not be accepted.” It also cited Trump’s “prior efforts to subvert and obstruct” the lawful results of the 2020 election. The article summarized Trump’s conduct this way: Donald Trump “interfered with the peaceful transition of power and imperiled a coequal branch of Government. He thereby betrayed his trust as President, to the manifest injury of the people of the United States.”

We had a few days of clarity where most of the House Republican Conference was ready to either impeach or censure Donald Trump—to condemn him and his actions. And most Republicans recognized that a detailed investigation was necessary. This moment wouldn’t last.

It had been clear to me since January 6 that Donald Trump had to be impeached. I saw no choice. I had heard all the rationalizations for voting against impeachment. I had heard members say they were looking for a reason to vote no on impeachment and instead censure him. This seemed wrong to me. When a president behaves the way Donald Trump behaved, and refuses to accept the peaceful transfer of power, he poses a risk that America cannot bear. Donald Trump had not just made a momentary mistake; he had worked for multiple months to find a way to overturn the results of a lawful election.

Last week, the U.S. Capitol was attacked by a mob intent on disrupting a Joint Session of Congress and preventing certification of the Electoral College results. Consequently, the US Capitol Police were overrun. Insurrectionists stormed and vandalized the US Capitol, assaulting those who stood in their way and leaving five Americans dead… It cannot be ignored that President Trump encouraged this insurrection—both on social media ahead of January 6th, and in his speech that day. By deliberately promoting baseless theories suggesting the election was somehow stolen, the president created a combustible environment of misinformation, disenfranchisement, and division. When this manifested in violent acts on January 6th, he refused to promptly and forcefully call it off, putting countless lives in danger. We take oaths to defend the Constitution because at times, it needs to be defended. Without the peaceful transfer of power and the acknowledgment of election results, we can’t sustain our political system.

“No job can ever be more important than our oath to the Constitution.”

And I wanted to convey the import of the issues we were dealing with. History was watching us. I had once read a lecture given by historian David McCullough about the US Capitol. He talked about the statue of Clio, muse of history, that stands over the door in Statuary Hall. I reminded my colleagues of what she stood for and why she was there. Clio is depicted riding in the chariot of time, making notes in the book in her hand, as a reminder that what we do in the Capitol Building is written in the pages of history.

a free society that abandons the truth—that abandons the rule of law—cannot remain free.

Ultimately, I decided against quitting. If the Republican Party was going to kick me out of leadership because I refused to lie about Trump, the country needed to see what they were doing. I was not going to make things easier for them by quietly stepping out of the way as they marched down the dangerous anti-constitutional path they were on.

On May 19, the independent-commission bill came up for a vote in the House. It was the same in substance as the bill proposed in January by Republicans with Kevin McCarthy’s support. But McCarthy was now urging members to vote against it. For obvious reasons, Trump did not want an investigation into January 6, so McCarthy could not support it.

Some of the constituent meetings I had been convening every year in Wyoming now became difficult to arrange, much less to conduct safely. Any widespread public notice about an upcoming appearance increased the security threat. My congressional office received death threats on a regular basis, and the Capitol Police became concerned about my safety.

When Dallin Oaks, president of the Mormon Church, to which she belonged, made remarks about our duty to the Constitution, I sent them to her. President Oaks’ remarkable statement included the lines: “We are to be governed by law and not by individuals, and our loyalty is to the Constitution and its principles and processes, not to any office holder.” But nothing could break the spell that QAnon had cast over her.

I also found that many of those in Wyoming who were the most upset or angry were unaware of the violence on January 6. They believed the day to have been almost entirely peaceful. They read The Epoch Times, a “news” website that presents extremely slanted reporting in the guise of a straightforward media outlet. They believed what they saw on their social-media feeds. They watched almost exclusively Fox News or Newsmax or OAN. As a result, they were completely unaware of what had actually happened.

Today Donald Trump poses a threat that many in Washington simply fail to grasp. He can move Americans to action based on total dishonesty. I can tell you from my time working to support democracy overseas that the power to rally a mob must never be underestimated. Nor should the fear that a mob can instill in people of reason. A person with that kind of power—to intimidate and threaten and motivate others to carry out violent acts—does not just slowly fade into the background. He must be defeated.

We may have disagreed on pretty much everything else, but Nancy Pelosi and I saw eye to eye on the one thing that mattered more than any other: the defense of our Constitution and the preservation of our republic.

Although it should be obvious to any objective person that my staff could not remotely be described as “liberal Democrats,” Trump’s allies in Congress nevertheless tried to characterize the investigation as a partisan effort, run entirely by Democrats. It wasn’t.

We learned later that Bannon also had information about Trump’s plans even before the 2020 election and that Trump had planned in advance—before a single vote was counted—to lie about the election being stolen. In other words, Trump’s plan was premeditated. Here is Bannon speaking to a group from China: And what Trump’s going to do is just declare victory, right? He’s gonna declare victory, but that doesn’t mean he’s the winner, he’s just going to say he’s a winner.… He’s gonna declare himself a winner. So when you wake up Wednesday morning, it’s going to be a firestorm. Also… if Trump is losing by 10:00 or 11:00 at night, it’s going to be even crazier, you know, because he’s gonna sit right there and say they stole it.

“… Presidents are not kings, and Plaintiff is not President.”

The resolution reflected a political party that had lost its principles and, frankly, seemed to be led by morons.

Indeed, the planning for January 6 appears to have consumed the vast majority of the president’s time for several weeks in December of 2020. He was doing almost nothing else. Donald Trump did not do all this on a whim. It was not something planned in one hour, or in one day, or even in one week. It was complicated and detailed. And, above all else, it was premeditated.

Thanks to what our investigation had uncovered so far, we knew that Trump had been told repeatedly—by his campaign, by his Justice Department, and by his White House staff—that none of his stolen-election claims were true.

As you hear this, all Americans should keep in mind this fact: On the morning of January 6th, President Donald Trump’s intention was to remain President of the United States despite the lawful outcome of the 2020 election and in violation of his Constitutional obligation to relinquish power.

Many Americans had heard that courts had ruled against Donald Trump, but few knew that Trump’s own campaign leadership had been telling him he lost.

Men and women who had loyally served President Trump knew it was over. And later, even as I was writing this book, yet more details emerged: Two expert analyses, both apparently commissioned by the Trump campaign, reportedly reached this same conclusion. In the nearly three years since January 6, 2021, no genuine evidence has come out that could substantiate Trump’s stolen-election claims. It was all a lie.

It is important to compare the Trump team’s knowledge at the time with what Donald Trump, Rudy Giuliani, and John Eastman said at the president’s January 6 Ellipse rally before tens of thousands of angry supporters whom Trump was directing to march to the Capitol. Their speeches continued to fraudulently claim that Dominion Voting Systems machines had corrupted the election. Rudy Giuliani urged “trial by combat,” while Donald Trump said this: “When you catch somebody in a fraud, you’re allowed to go by very different rules.” Donald Trump has frequently returned to this notion—that his election-fraud allegations justified unconstitutional and illegal acts: “A Massive Fraud of this type and magnitude allows for the termination of all rules, regulations, and articles, even those found in the Constitution.”

No man who would do these things can ever be our president again.

At the close of our June 16 hearing, Judge Luttig described the prevailing state of affairs this way: “Donald Trump and his allies… are a clear and present danger to American democracy.”

One other key fact was clear from the June 22 hearing. Acting Deputy Attorney General Donoghue testified that Trump had told him this in a phone call: “Just say it [the election] was corrupt and leave the rest to me and the Republican congressmen.” Elsewhere in the call, Trump mentioned Representatives Jim Jordan and Scott Perry specifically.

The hearing also demonstrated the shameful immorality of those, like Senator Josh Hawley, who first provoked the riotous crowd with a raised fist, then ran from the crowd once he realized what was happening. A member of the Capitol Police told us that Senator Hawley’s fist pump, from behind police lines, bothered her greatly because he “riled up the crowd” and was “doing it in a safe space, protected by the officers and the barriers.” When the Committee showed footage of Hawley’s gesture, then followed it immediately with footage of Hawley running down a Capitol hallway, the hearing room erupted in laughter. Hawley deserved it. “[S]upporting Josh and trying so hard to get him elected to the Senate was the worst mistake I ever made in my life,” legendary former Missouri Republican Senator Jack Danforth said after the January 6 riots.

Every American must consider this: Can a president who is willing to make the choices Donald Trump made during the violence of January 6th ever be trusted with any position of authority in our great nation again?

As we ended, I tried to put the issues we’d been tackling in a larger historical context: In this room in 1918, the Committee on Women’s Suffrage convened to discuss and debate whether women should be granted the right to vote. This room is full of history, and we on this committee know we have a solemn obligation not to idly squander what so many Americans have fought and died for. Ronald Reagan’s great ally, Margaret Thatcher, said this: “Let it never be said that the dedication of those who love freedom is less than the determination of those who would destroy it.” Let me assure every one of you of this: Our Committee understands the gravity of this moment, the consequences for our nation.

The final ad of the campaign featured Dick Cheney wearing his Stetson and speaking directly to the camera about the threat our country faced: In our nation’s 246-year history there has never been an individual who is a greater threat to our republic than Donald Trump. He tried to steal the last election using lies and violence to keep himself in power after the voters had rejected him. He is a coward—a real man wouldn’t lie to his supporters. He lost his election, and he lost big. I know it. He knows it. And deep down, I think most Republicans know it. Lynne and I are so proud of Liz for standing up for the truth, doing what’s right, honoring her oath to the Constitution when so many in our party are too scared to do so. Liz is fearless. She never backs down from a fight. There is nothing more important she will ever do than lead the effort to make sure Donald Trump is never again near the Oval Office. And she will succeed.

From all of these races I recognized that a significant number of Americans—Republicans, Democrats, and Independents—would never embrace the lies of Donald Trump or other election deniers.

One thing was now unavoidably apparent to any objective observer: Donald Trump had demonstrated that he is unfit for any office.

Today, we must take Donald Trump’s statements literally. Trump has told us that he thinks the Constitution can and should be suspended when necessary, that what happened on January 6 was justified, that in a second Trump presidency he would seek retribution. And much more. Some have suggested that “the normal U.S. checks and balances” of our constitutional system would constrain Trump. They won’t.