President Biden awarded the leaders of the former Jan. 6 House Select Committee, former Republican Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney and Mississippi Democrat Rep. Bennie Thompson, the second-highest civilian medal for their ‘exemplary deeds of service for their country,’ according to the White House.
‘The Presidential Citizens Medal is awarded to citizens of the United States of America who have performed exemplary deeds of service for their country or their fellow citizens. President Biden believes these Americans are bonded by their common decency and commitment to serving others. The country is better because of their dedication and sacrifice,’ the White House detailed in a statement Thursday.
The White House announced 20 people across the nation would receive the Presidential Citizens Medal on Thursday, including Cheney and Thompson, who Biden lauded as ‘intrepid’ and holding a ‘steadfast commitment to truth.’
‘Throughout two decades in public service, including as a Congresswoman for Wyoming and Vice Chair of the Committee on the January 6 attack, Liz Cheney has raised her voice—and reached across the aisle—to defend our Nation and the ideals we stand for: Freedom. Dignity. And decency. Her integrity and intrepidness remind us all what is possible if we work together,’ the White House said in its statement of Cheney.
‘Born and raised in a segregated Mississippi, as a college student inspired by the Civil Rights movement, Bennie Thompson volunteered on campaigns and registered southern Black voters. That call to serve eventually led him to Congress, where he chaired the House January 6th Committee—at the forefront of defending the rule of law with unwavering integrity and a steadfast commitment to truth,’ the statement on Thompson read.
Thompson served as the chair of the Jan. 6 select committee, with Cheney serving as the vice chair. The Jan. 6 committee was founded in July 2021 to investigate the breach of the U.S. Capitol earlier that year by supporters of Trump ahead of President Biden officially taking office on Jan. 20. The Jan. 6 committee’s investigation was carried out when Democrats held control of the House.
The committee concluded its 18-month investigation in 2023, after Republicans regained control of the House, and sent referrals to the Justice Department recommending that Trump be criminally prosecuted for his involvement in the lead-up to his supporters breaching the Capitol.
The committee was composed of seven Democrats and two Republican lawmakers, Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, both of whom are no longer in office.
Incoming Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, R-Wyo., reacted to Biden’s decision to award Cheney with the medal in a comment to Fox Digital on Thursday, slamming her as a former elected official who ‘represents partisanship and divisiveness.’
‘President Biden was either going to pardon Liz Cheney or give her an award. She doesn’t deserve either. She represents partisanship and divisiveness, not Wyoming,’ he said.
Republican elected officials and President-elect Donald Trump have railed against the committee and its leaders for years, with a recent Republican House report calling on the FBI to investigate Cheney for ‘potential criminal witness tampering’ related to her role on the former select committee.
‘Based on the evidence obtained by this Subcommittee, numerous federal laws were likely broken by Liz Cheney, the former Vice Chair of the January 6 Select Committee, and these violations should be investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation,’ stated a report released last month by House Administration Subcommittee on Oversight Chair Rep. Barry Loudermilk, R-Ga. ‘Evidence uncovered by the Subcommittee revealed that former Congresswoman Liz Cheney tampered with at least one witness, Cassidy Hutchinson, by secretly communicating with Hutchinson without Hutchinson’s attorney’s knowledge.’
Cheney and Thompson both slammed the report in comments to Fox Digital last month.
‘The January 6th Committee’s hearings and report featured scores of Republican witnesses, including many of the most senior officials from Trump’s own White House, campaign and Administration,’ Cheney said. ‘All of this testimony was painstakingly set out in thousands of pages of transcripts, made public along with a highly detailed and meticulously sourced 800 page report. Now, Chairman Loudermilk’s ‘Interim Report’ intentionally disregards the truth and the Select Committee’s tremendous weight of evidence, and instead fabricates lies and defamatory allegations in an attempt to cover up what Donald Trump did. Their allegations do not reflect a review of the actual evidence, and are a malicious and cowardly assault on the truth. No reputable lawyer, legislator or judge would take this seriously.’
Cheney had served as the third-highest ranking Republican in the House but was ousted from her role as GOP conference chair by her colleagues in 2021. Cheney lost her 2022 primary run for re-election to Trump-backed Rep. Harriet Hageman.
The report followed speculation that Biden could grant Cheney a presidential pardon ahead of leaving the Oval Office. Late last year, Trump renewed his longstanding criticisms of Cheney and the Jan. 6 committee, suggesting she and Thompson could face jail time.
‘Cheney did something that’s inexcusable, along with Thompson and the people on the un-select committee of political thugs and, you know, creeps,’ he said in an interview with NBC. ‘They deleted and destroyed all evidence.’
‘And Cheney was behind it. And so was Bennie Thompson and everybody on that committee,’ he continued. ‘For what they did, honestly, they should go to jail.’
The Presidential Citizens Medal is the second-highest honor a civilian can receive from the president, after the Presidential Medal of Freedom, according to the Associated Press.