Former Wyoming GOP Rep. Liz Cheney and House Republican Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik of New York engaged in a heated exchange on social media on Tuesday. Cheney called Stefanik a “total crackpot” in response to Stefanik’s criticism of her role in the Jan. 6 committee.
The back-and-forth began after reports surfaced that files related to the Jan. 6 events had been mysteriously deleted or encrypted before Republicans took control of the House in 2022. Stefanik criticized the Jan. 6 committee, of which Cheney was the vice chairwoman at the time.
“Nancy Pelosi’s sham January 6th Committee was illegitimate and unconstitutional. It should come as a surprise to no one that Bennie Thompson and Liz Cheney’s fake committee illegally deleted records of their sham investigation and obstructed justice,” Stefanik wrote in a post on social media.
Cheney responded to Stefanik’s post by linking to a statement that the New York congresswoman made on Jan. 6, 2021, in which she condemned the Capitol riots. “This is what @EliseStefanik said, in a rare moment of honesty, about the January 6 attack on our Capitol,” Cheney wrote. “One day she will have to explain how and why she morphed into a total crackpot. History, and our children, deserve to know.”
The exchange highlights the ongoing rift within the Republican Party between those who have embraced former President Donald Trump and those who have condemned his role in the Jan. 6 insurrection. Cheney, who was ousted from her leadership role earlier this year for her criticisms of Trump, has been a vocal proponent of the Jan. 6 committee’s investigation.
Stefanik, who replaced Cheney as House Republican Conference Chair, has been a vocal supporter of Trump and has faced criticism from some within the party for her role in promoting false claims of election fraud. The Jan. 6 committee’s investigation has been a source of contention within the Republican Party, with many members arguing that it is politically motivated.
The deletion of files related to the Jan. 6 events has added fuel to the partisan divide over the committee’s investigation. The files were reportedly deleted or encrypted before Republicans took control of the House, raising questions about whether they were intentionally destroyed to protect certain individuals or to obstruct the committee’s investigation. The committee has vowed to continue its investigation despite the missing files.
