Outgoing President Joe Biden has awarded the Citizens Medal, the second civilian honor in the United States, to members of the House committee that investigated the attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021.
The number of 20 respect was recognized in a tradition at the White House on Thursday.
Among them were a civil rights activist who advocated for the legalization of same-sex marriage in the US, an army doctor who improved the medical care of war casualties, and a civil rights leader who laid the groundwork for antisemitism.
“The most important subject in America is not the President but the citizens. It is 'We the people,'” said Biden, quoting the preamble to the US Constitution. “These are the words of the rock upon which this whole nation is built.”
But a number of respected former MPs were widely praised for their work in the House of Representatives committee charged with investigating the January 6 incident.
One recipient was the committee's chairman, Democrat Bennie Thompson of Louisiana. The second was his vice chairman, a former Republican Representative Liz Cheney in Wyoming.
A standing ovation greeted Cheney on the stage at the White House on Thursday, as an announcer praised him “for putting the American people on a roll”. Thompson, meanwhile, was praised for his “lifelong commitment to defending our Constitution”.
What is January 6?
Cheney has been a political lightning rod since his years on the committee. He is a popular target of criticism from President-elect Donald Trump, the leader of the Republican Party.
The January 6 attack it was fueled by Trump's false claims that he won the 2020 election.
That day, Trump held a “Stop the Steal” rally outside the White House, repeating unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud.
Thousands of his supporters marched a few blocks west to the US Capitol, where they attacked officials and stormed the building as Congress certified the results of the election.
Lawmakers were evacuated, and protesters were heard chanting threats like, “Hang Mike Pence,” meaning vice President who was in charge of the voter registration.
As of November 2024, the US Department of Justice report that 1,561 people have been charged in the state because of the riot. A total of 645 were sentenced to prison.
The commission noted that guns, tasers, knives, axes and pepper spray were among the weapons brought to the Capitol during the January 6 event.
Biden said was already given The President's Medal for Capitol Police and election workers who threatened the 2020 vote, including Ruby Freeman and his daughter Drink Moss.
“I am honored to honor the police officers who protected our Capitol on January 6 and the state and local officials, elected leaders, who protected free and fair elections in 2020,” Biden said at Thursday's event.
“Today, we celebrate a new generation of Americans who have dedicated their lives to serving our democracy in important ways.”
Cheney vs. Trump
Thursday's medal ceremony came just days before the riots — and less than three weeks before Trump himself is expected to take office for the second time. He will be sworn in on January 20.
Trump served from 2017 to 2021, when Biden, the winner of the 2020 race, succeeded him.
In the months after the riots on January 6, the House of Representatives voted to convene an independent investigator. committee looking at the circumstances surrounding the plot.
The committee was abolished in 2023 when the House left Democratic leadership for Republicans. But in its final weeks, the Commission released a A shocking, 850-page report to promote cases Trumpet.
It accused him of a “multi-party conspiracy” to undermine the results of the 2020 elections.
“The main trigger of January 6 was one person, former President Donald Trump, who was followed by many others,” the report said. “None of what happened on January 6 would have happened without him.”
Cheney was one of only two Republicans on the committee. Both of them resigned. Cheney lost his major party when fellow Republican Adam Kinzinger did not seek re-election.
He and his father, Vice President Dick Cheney, have attended visible opponents Trump, though to help his Democratic opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, in the 2024 presidential race.
In an interview with NPR in December 2023, Cheney accused Trump of turning the Republican Party into a “cult” and called him a threat to US democracy.
“He talks about weaponizing our government against his opponents,” Cheney told NPR's Fresh Air program. “I don't see myself that way when I think about what it would mean for me. But I think what it means for this country is that we are no longer a republic. “
Meanwhile, Mr. Trump said members of the January 6 committee should be arrested, to cause fear about political revenge.
“Of course, he should go to jail,” he told NBC's Meet the Press program in December.
He repeatedly accused the committee, without evidence, of removing or suppressing evidence. “Cheney did something that is unforgivable, along with Mr. Thompson and the people on the unelected committee of political criminals and, you know, it's working.”