Biden awards Liz Cheney, 19 others Presidential Citizens Medal

Thursday

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Lauren Taylor Anchor

By Lauren Taylor (Anchor), Roey Hadar (Producer), Zachary Hill (Video Editor)

President Joe Biden awarded former Republican Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney a Presidential Citizens Medal, the second-highest U.S. civilian honor, on Thursday, Jan. 2. The accolade recognizes her work co-chairing the House Select Committee on the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack.

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Cheney received the award in a ceremony where her co-chair, Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., also received the honor, as did 18 others.

It comes less than three weeks before President-elect Donald Trump takes office.

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Before his election win, Trump faced federal charges alleging he incited the deadly 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol. However, the Justice Department later dropped the charges.

In an interview with NBC’s Meet the Press last month, Trump said both Cheney and Thompson should be in jail. He accused them of deleting all evidence in their investigation.

“I think those people committed a major crime and [Liz] Cheney was behind it, and so was Bennie Thompson and everybody on that committee,” Trump said.

In 2023, Rep. Barry Loudermilk, R-Ga., criticized the Jan. 6 committee. He alleged in a Fox News interview that they did not adequately preserve some documents relating to Capitol security failures.

Committee members deny deleting records, many of which are publicly available as transcripts or videos.

Four former U.S. senators –– Democrats Bill Bradley, Chris Dodd and Ted Kaufman, as well as Republican Nancy Landon Kassebaum –– also received the Presidential Citizens Medal.

Other recipients in Thursday’s ceremony include:

Early LGBTQ rights advocates Evan Wolfson and Mary Bonauto.
Mitsuye Endo, the plaintiff who died in 2006 but led the case overturning the internment of 120,000 Japanese Americans during World War II.
Frank K. Butler Jr., a Navy SEAL whose improvements to medical guidelines for treating injured troops likely saved thousands of lives of U.S. soldiers fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Tags: Bennie Thompson, Joe Biden, LGBTQ, LGBTQ Rights, Liz Cheney, U.S. military

Announcer: Elizabeth L. Cheney, for putting the American people over party.

(Applause)

LAUREN TAYLOR: President Joe Biden awarded Liz Cheney a Presidential Citizens Medal, the second-highest US civilian honor, for her work co-chairing the House Select Committee on the January 6th attack.

Cheney received the award in a ceremony where her co-chair Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi also received the honor, as did 18 others.

It comes less than three weeks before President-elect Donald Trump is set to take office.

Before being elected president, Trump faced federal charges that have since been dropped alleging he incited the deadly 2021 attack on the US Capitol.

In an interview with NBC’s Meet the Press last month, President-elect Trump said both Cheney and Thompson should be in jail, accusing them of deleting all evidence in their investigation.

DONALD TRUMP / President-elect: I THINK THOSE PEOPLE COMMITTED A MAJOR CRIME AND CHENEY WAS BEHIND IT. AND SO WAS BENNIE THOMPSON AND EVERYBODY ON THAT COMMITTEE

KRISTEN WELKER / Moderator, “Meet the Press”: WE’RE GOING TO–

TRUMP: FOR WHAT THEY DID. HONESTLY, THEY SHOULD GO TO JAIL.

WELKER: SO YOU THINK LIZ CHENEY SHOULD GO TO JAIL FOR WHAT – TRUMP: EVERYONE ON THE COMMITTEE, I THINK ANYBODY THAT VOTED IN FAVOR,

WELKER: WOULD YOU DIRECT YOUR FBI DIRECTOR AND YOUR ATTORNEY GENERAL TO SEND THEM TO JAIL?

TRUMP: NOT AT ALL. I THINK THAT THEY’LL HAVE TO LOOK AT THAT.

LAUREN TAYLOR: In 2023, Republican Rep. Barry Loudermilk of Georgia criticized the January 6th committee, alleging in an interview with Fox News that they did not adequately preserve some documents relating to security failures in the Capitol.

Committee members vehemently deny deleting records, many of which are available to the public as transcripts or videos.

Four former US Senators – Democrats Bill Bradley, Chris Dodd, and Ted Kaufman, as well as Republican Nancy Landon Kassebaum – also received the Presidential Citizens Medal.

Other recipients in Thursday’s ceremony include early LGBTQ rights advocates Evan Wolfson and Mary Bonauto…

Mitsuye Endo, the plaintiff who died in 2006, but led the case overturning the internment of 120,000 Japanese Americans during World War II…

And Frank K. Butler Jr., a Navy SEAL whose improvements to medical guidelines for treating injured troops likely saved thousands of lives of US soldiers fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan.

For Straight Arrow News, I’m Lauren Taylor.

And for all the latest updates on this and other top stories, download the Straight Arrow News app or visit SAN.com.