Liz Cheney says Donald Trump may face 'enhanced criminal penalties' for his role in Capitol insurrection

Former President Donald Trump's potential legal culpability in last year's insurrection was boosted over the weekend when Representative Liz Cheney (R-Wyoming) revealed that the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol is exploring "enhanced criminal penalties" for his role in the deadly riot.

Speaking with MSNBC's Chuck Todd on Sunday's edition of Meet the Press, Cheney said that the mountains of evidence amassed by the Committee indicate that Trump was intimately involved with planning and executing the violent attempt to topple American democracy.

"Should we expect criminal referrals on this? And should we expect something – how much new do you think the public will learn that will actually change the way they thought about January 6th?" Todd asked Cheney, who is one of two Republicans serving on the bipartisan panel.

Cheney explained that Trump's decisions (and lack thereof) were egregious violations of his oath of office that may result in severe consequences for the ex-commander in chief.

"Our first priority is to make recommendations and we're looking at things like do we need additional enhanced criminal penalties for the kind of supreme dereliction of duty that you saw with President Trump when he refused to tell the mob to go home after he had provoked that attack on the Capitol. So there will be legislative recommendations and there certainly will be new information," she said.

"And I can tell you," she continued, "I have not learned a single thing since I have been on this Committee that has made me less concerned or less worried about the gravity of the situation and the actions that President Trump took and also refused to take while the attack was underway."

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