“I won’t apologize for the vote,” Cheney told the GOP conference.
Cheney was one of a handful of House Republicans to cross party lines and vote to impeach former President Donald Trump for inciting the insurrection at the US Capitol that left five people dead.
Cheney delivered an eight-minute speech near the beginning of the Wednesday meeting, two people in the room said, offering what was described as a calm yet firm defense of the Constitution. She did not apologize during her remarks.
Cheney also told members that she wanted a vote to be called on her leadership status, which was interpreted by some in the room as an act of confidence in her standing with a broader cross-section of Republicans, the majority of which did not air their grievances toward her.
Yet Cheney fielded several contentious questions and comments from Trump loyalists, a person in the room said, including Rep. Scott Perry of Pennsylvania, who bluntly said she “aided and comforted the enemy.” Rep. Darryl Issa of California asked Cheney if they kept her in leadership, whether she would do it again. Rep. Matt Rosendale of Montana engaged in a fiery exchange with her, a person in the room said, speaking loudly and angrily at Cheney.
But the anger was not all aimed at Cheney. Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, who also voted in favor of impeachment, voiced criticism of House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy during the meeting.
Cheney issued a scathing statement ahead of the House impeachment vote condemning Trump’s conduct, saying that he “summoned this mob, assembled the mob, and lit the flame of this attack,” and “there has never been a greater betrayal by a President of the United States of his office and his oath to the Constitution.”
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