'Liz Cheney took a flamethrower' to Trump's election lies: CNN legal analyst

The morning after the House Select Committee investigating the Jan 6th insurrection held their first televised hearing on Donald Trump's complicity in inciting the riot at the Capitol building, CNN legal analyst Elie Honig singled out co-chair Liz Cheney's presentation of the facts.

Summing up her performance before a national TV audience, he told CNN "New Day" host John Berman, "Liz Cheney took a flamethrower to the Big Lie."

According to Honig, the committee did a stellar job of tying Trump to the insurrection and applauded the Wyoming Republican for focusing on one specific tweet from the former president as a key piece of evidence that tied their investigation together.

"This was remarkable," the former prosecutor told the New Day host. "Liz Cheney took a flame thrower to the big lie. She proved beyond any question that there's no possible way Donald Trump won this election and he knew it, too, and she used the words of Donald Trump's own people against him which I think is a really important persuasive technique."

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"Also this goes to the question of intent," he added. "One of the defenses of Donald Trump is and has been, well, he genuinely believed he won the election so he was just pursuing those remedies which he is entitled to do, but when you see this you find out Bill Barr his loyal attorney general says I told Donald Trump to his face three times you lost and then Jason Miller testimony shows that the data analytics guru told Donald Trump you have lost."

Later host Berman prompted Hoenig, asking, "At 6:01 p.m. on January 6th after he [Trump] spent hours watching a violent mob besiege, attack and invade our capitol, Donald Trump tweeted, but he did not condemn the attack, instead he justified it."

"I thought it was so interesting that Liz Cheney used this particular tweet because we've known about this tweet since Donald Trump sent it at 6:01 p.m. on January 6. I have always felt this is one of the most underrated but important pieces of evidence. We talk about Donald Trump's intent in the lead up to January 6 itself. You want an insight into Donald Trump's intent about the Capitol attack, about what happened that day? Look at this tweet. He sends it hours, just a few hours after the attack is over. They've ransacked the Capitol and what does Donald Trump say? He calls these people, quote, 'great patriots' and he said in a celebratory manner remember this day forever."

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