One of Rep. Liz Cheney's biggest political rivals is a member of the right-wing Oath Keepers group whose co-founder was recently indicted for seditious conspiracy.
The Wyoming Republican is facing a challenge from within her own party after voting last year to impeach Donald Trump, and Frank Eathorne -- who was revealed last year as a member of the Oath Keepers militia group -- is leading the charge as the sitting chairman of Cheney's home state GOP, reported The Daily Beast.
“It’s troubling to see leaders in institutions that should be engaging in the democratic process not only condone paramilitaries, but officially join them,” said Lindsay Schubiner, program director at the nonprofit Western States Center, which tracks far-right extremism.
Eathorne has led the charge to unseat Cheney by appearing frequently on conservative media to denounce her, and he backed the February 2021 effort to formally censure her and presided over the vote to no longer recognize her as a member of the Republican Party.
But the indictments last week of Oath Keepers co-founder Stewart Rhodes and 10 others for seditious conspiracy complicates Eathorne's battle against Cheney, who is one of only two Republicans on the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection.
Eathorne was also present at the protest that preceded the violent assault on the Capitol, which Rhodes and his co-defendants are accused of coordinating, although he has not been arrested or charged with any crimes related to the insurrection.
“Certainly, there are people in the state party apparatus of my home state who are quite radical,” Cheney said Jan. 7 to Fox News, "and some of those same people, include people who were here on Jan. 6, include a party chair who has toyed with the idea of secession.”
