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Wyoming Republican Party leaders no longer recognize Liz Cheney in party

The Wyoming GOP voted Saturday to no longer recognize Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo. as a member of the party. File Photo by Tasos Katopodis/UPI
The Wyoming GOP voted Saturday to no longer recognize Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo. as a member of the party. File Photo by Tasos Katopodis/UPI | License Photo

Nov. 16 (UPI) -- Wyoming Republican Party leaders no longer recognize Congresswoman Liz Cheney as a member of the party.

The Wyoming GOP passed a resolution that the U.S. representative of their state, who was one of 10 House republicans to join all Democrats in voting to impeach then-President Donald Trump for his role in the violent Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, was no longer a member of their party in a 31-29 vote during a Saturday meeting in Buffalo, Wyo., Casper Star Tribune reported.

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The resolution, drafted by the GOP in Lincoln County, called on the U.S. House Republican leaders to strip Cheney of her committee assignments and the House GOP conference itself, but it was mainly symbolic, according to CBS News and Casper Star Tribune.

The Lincoln County GOP noted she "cannot be recalled or removed from office," by her "own espoused political party."

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The county GOP also acknowledged there is no entity that can "forcibly change any individual's chosen registered political affiliation, without the individual who is changing their registered political affiliation choosing to do so themselves."

In February, the Wyoming GOP also censured Cheney over her impeachment vote, arguing Cheney's vote to impeach ran counter to the will of Wyoming voters, who supported Trump by a more than 40-point margin. The state party also made baseless claims that members of the anti-fascist movement Antifa and Black Lives Matter instigated the violence on Jan. 6.

Cheney has also criticized Trump for his baseless claims that he won the 2020 presidential election before House Republicans removed her from her post as the third-highest ranking Republican, conference chair, in May.

The congresswoman said she had put the Constitution above party in her impeachment of Trump and criticism of his attempts to undermine the 2020 election, but the state central committee voted to pass a resolution that questions her decision making.

"Previously mentioned in the resolution of censure, Representative Liz Cheney 'cast her vote in favor of impeachment without any quantifiable evidence of High Crimes of Misdemeanors," the resolution stated. "As to date, no quantifiable and or undisputed evidence has been offered...to defend her questionable decision."

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The resolution also criticized Cheney for joining the House select committee responsible for investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, referring to her as an ally of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.

"To further her own personal political agenda, Representative Liz Cheney has not only caused massive disruption, distraction and division within the House Republican Conference, but has also willingly, happily, and energetically joined forced with and proudly pledged allegiance to democrat Speaker of the House Pelosi, as a means of serving her own personal interests while ignoring the interests, needs and expectations of Wyoming Republicans," the resolution stated.

Despite her recent fallout with some in the party, Cheney voted with Trump on policy about 93% of the time, according to FiveThirtyEight, which is a higher percentage of the time than about 78% of the time for Elise Stefanik-N.Y., who replaced her as conference chair.

Trump was impeached by the House for inciting the riot, but later acquitted by the Senate.

Trump's senior White House adviser Steve Bannon, 67, turned himself in to federal agents in Washington, D.C., on Monday to face charges over his decision to defy congressional subpoenas investigating the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol attack. Bannon was indicted by a federal grand jury on Friday on two counts of contempt of Congress.

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Last week, the committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol attack also subpoenaed former White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany, former senior adviser Stephen Miller, and Keith Kellogg, national security adviser to former Vice President Mike Pence, among others.

On Friday, former Trump Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, R-N.C., failed to appear before the Jan. 6 panel. Meadow's attorney George Terwilliger suggested the day before he would not cooperate because he wants a court to resolve Trump's claims of executive privilege first.

On Thursday, the House select committee demanded Meadows comply with its subpoena for testimony and documents or risk facing criminal contempt of Congress charges.

An appeals court on Thursday agreed to temporarily delay National Archives release of Trump's records requested from the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack. Trump had asked the court to "maintain the status quo" until an expedited appeal can be heard regarding his claims of executive privilege.

The committee has been charged with investigating the facts, circumstances and causes of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, which had a death toll of five and over 100 injuries, to make recommendations to prevent it occurring again, and has subpoenaed several close to Trump.

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