Liz Cheney suggests Donald Trump could face 'more than one' criminal referral

Not confronting former president would pose a 'much graver constitutional threat'

'There will come a day when Donald Trump is gone, but your dishonour will remain.' Congresswoman and January 6 committee vice chairwoman Liz Cheney to Republican colleagues who have defended Mr Trump's claims of election fraud. AFP

'January 6 was the culmination of an attempted coup - a brazen attempt, as one rioter put it shortly after January 6 - to overthrow the government.' Committee chairman Bennie Thompson. EPA

Mr Trump 'was willing to sacrifice our republic to prolong his presidency. I can imagine no more dishonourable acts by a president.' Republican Congressman Adam Kinzinger. AFP

Donald Trump had this 'arsenal of allegations. I went through them piece by piece to say, no, they were not true'. Former acting deputy attorney general Richard Donoghue. EPA

'There were no votes to find.' Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger after Donald Trump asked him and his deputy, Gabriel Sterling, to 'find 11,780' votes that could flip Georgia in the president's favour. AFP

Competing against Donald Trump’s lies was like a 'shovel trying to empty the ocean'. Gabriel Sterling, Georgia Secretary of State chief operating officer. AFP

'As an American, I was disgusted. It was unpatriotic, it was un-American. We were watching the Capitol building get defaced over a lie.' Cassidy Hutchinson, an aide to then White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, speaking about the insurrection. AFP

'I told him [Donald Trump] that the stuff his people were shovelling out to the public was bull***t.' Former attorney general William Barr. AP

'I respect attorney general Barr. So, I accepted what he was saying.' Ivanka Trump, former White House senior adviser. AP

'We fight like hell. And if you don't fight like hell, you're not going to have a country any more.' Donald Trump on January 6, 2021. Reuters

A Confederate battle flag that reads 'Come and Take It' and shows a military-style rifle flies as rioters storm the Capitol on January 6, 2001. Reuters

A Trump supporter sprays smoke. Reuters

Police attempt to push the mob back. AFP

The pro-Trump mob swarms the Capitol as police release tear gas. Reuters

Protesters clash with police. Reuters

Pro-Trump protesters storm into the US Capitol. Reuters

A police flash-bang blast lights up the Capitol. Reuters

Before the insurrection, Mr Trump is seen on a screen speaking to supporters during a rally to contest the certification of the 2020 US presidential election results. Reuters

People march with those who say they are members of the Proud Boys as they attend a rally in Washington in support of former president Donald Trump. AP

Republican Congresswoman Liz Cheney has suggested that former president Donald Trump could face “more than one” criminal referral for his actions following his defeat to Joe Biden in the 2020 election and during the January 6, 2021 insurrection.

Ms Cheney, 55, has gained prominence on the national stage and notoriety within her Republican Party after speaking out against Mr Trump's refusal to accept to his loss and his lies about election fraud.

She is vice chairwoman and one of two Republicans on the House of Representatives committee investigating the deadly insurrection, and was one of 10 Republicans in the House who voted to impeach the former president for inciting the attack.

In comments broadcast on Sunday, Ms Cheney told ABC News that the panel could make a recommendation to the Justice Department that Mr Trump should be criminally prosecuted — although she noted that the department did not need to wait for such a move.

“The department doesn't have to wait for the committee to make a criminal referral. And there could be more than one criminal referral,” Ms Cheney told ABC News.

She acknowledged that a criminal prosecution would be fraught in divided America, particularly as the Justice Department is overseen by the Biden White House.

But not taking on a case against Mr Trump could pose a “much graver constitutional threat”, she said.

“If a president can engage in these kinds of activities and the majority of the president's party looks away, or we as a country decide we're not actually going to take our constitutional obligations seriously, I think that's a much a much more serious threat.”

She pointed to committee testimony that showed Mr Trump knew some of the January 6 demonstrators were armed, but egged them on to march on the Capitol.

Mr Trump has dismissed the committee's findings as partisan theatre.

Ms Cheney of Wyoming, daughter of Dick Cheney, also refused to rule out her own run for the presidency in 2024.

“I'll make a decision about '24 down the road,” she said in the interview with ABC talk show This Week.

“The single most important thing is protecting the nation from Donald Trump.”

But Ms Cheney is fighting for her political life in Wyoming, where a Trump-backed rival is challenging her in the state's Republican primary, to be held next month before November's midterm elections.