Former Representative Liz Cheney issued a warning to the United States Supreme Court about its handling of former President Donald Trump's claims of presidential immunity.
The Supreme Court is expected to hear arguments into Trump's immunity claims on April 25. His legal team has argued presidential immunity should shield Trump from being charged in the Department of Justice (DOJ) case surrounding alleged attempts at thwarting the 2020 election results.
The DOJ last year charged the former president with attempting to overturn the 2020 presidential election results, culminating in the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot, as well as alleged efforts to send false slates of pro-Trump electors to the electoral college from key swing states. He has maintained his innocence, pleading not guilty to all charges.
Trump has argued that he was acting in an official capacity at the time, and therefore cannot be charged. Critics have said he was acting as a candidate, not an elected official.
Cheney, a former Republican representative who emerged as a Trump critic following January 6, on Wednesday warned the Supreme Court about the importance of handling the case quickly while speaking at Drake University's Annual Bucksbaum Distinguished Lectureship.
"When [Trump] now is pushing this idea that a president should have complete immunity against any criminal prosecution for anything he does in office and he's pushed this appeal to the Supreme Court, I think it's very important that the Supreme Court recognizes what he's doing is a delaying tactic," Cheney said.
"It cannot be the case that a president of the United States can attempt to overturn an election and seize power and that our justice system is incapable of holding a trial and holding him to account before the next election."
Cheney said she trusts the court will "deal in a responsible and expeditious fashion with this appeal." However, she added the court taking action that would result in further delay in the public seeing evidence and amount to "suppression of the evidence."
"The American people have a right to see that evidence, and the court ought to recognize that," she said.
Newsweek reached out to the Supreme Court's public information office and Cheney's The Great Task PAC for comment via email.
Video of her remarks was posted to X, formerly Twitter, by the account Republican Voters Against Trump and has been viewed more than 150,000 times by Thursday morning.
Cheney represented Wyoming's At-Large Congressional District from 2017 to 2023. After the January 6 riot, she was one of 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump for his alleged role in it, invoking the former president's ire. She ultimately lost the GOP primary election in 2022 to Trump-backed Representative Harriet Hageman by more than 37 percentage points. Cheney remains a vocal critic of Trump and the growth of his influence in the Republican Party.
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