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- McConnell told Cheney to stop criticizing Trump, warning that her stance could hurt the GOP in 2022.
- Cheney texted McConnell in May 2021 and said he’d made a mistake by blocking a bipartisan Jan. 6 commission.
- Her text referenced a statue of Clio, the “Muse of History,” that sits in the US Capitol.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell told Rep. Liz Cheney to stop criticizing former President Donald Trump, warning her that it could not only hurt the Republican Party’s chances in the 2022 midterms but also damage her own reelection prospects.
That’s according to ABC News reporter Jonathan Karl’s forthcoming book, “Betrayal: The Final Act of the Trump Show,” a copy of which was obtained by Insider in advance of its Tuesday release.
In late May, Senate Republicans voted down the creation of a bipartisan commission to investigate the January 6 storming of the US Capitol.
“After careful consideration, I’ve made the decision to oppose the House Democrats’ slanted and unbalanced proposal for another commission to study the events of January 6,” McConnell said on the Senate floor on May 19.
Following the vote, Cheney sent McConnell a text message telling the Senate’s top Republican that she thought he’d made a mistake. According to the book, her text referenced Greek mythology, and one of the oldest pieces of artwork that sits in the Capitol.
“Historian David McCullough has described the statue of Clio, the Muse of History, standing over the North door and Statuary Hall. She takes notes in her book, reminding all of us that our words will be measured by history,” Cheney wrote in her text to McConnell, according to Karl’s book.
Scott J. Ferrell/Congressional Quarterly/Getty Images
McConnell apparently did not respond that day. He called Cheney a month later to tell her to stop criticizing the former president, Karl wrote.
McConnell reportedly told the Wyoming Republican that it was time to move on, and that her continued public stance against Trump would hurt Republicans in the 2022 midterm elections and potentially imperil her own reelection in Wyoming.
McConnell is supporting Cheney’s reelection effort and in May told Fox News that she is a “leader of deep conviction.”
But, by the time McConnell issued his warning to Cheney, her public condemnation of Trump had already cost her a position among House GOP leaders. Cheney also went on to draw a Trump-endorsed primary challenger in Harriet Hageman, a former family friend.
Cheney now serves as the Republican vice chair of a House select committee investigating the January 6 Capitol attack. The group was created by House Democrats after an unsuccessful attempt to establish a bipartisan commission to probe the insurrection. The committee has issued dozens of subpoenas to associates of Trump and sought the indictment of Steve Bannon, who on Monday was arrested by the FBI on charges of criminal contempt of Congress after refusing to cooperate with the committee.
McConnell’s office did not respond to Insider’s request for comment.
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