Riggleman says Cheney had ‘outsized’ influence on Jan. 6 committee

Former Rep. Denver Riggleman (R-Va.), who previously worked as an adviser to the House select committee investigating Jan. 6, said Sunday that committee vice chair Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) had “outsized” influence over its work.

Riggleman was speaking to CNN’s Jim Acosta ahead of the release of the Jan. 6 panel’s much-anticipated final report, expected to tie a bow on the investigations at the end of this year.

“I do think that she should’ve had more members sort of taking the ball and running with it when it came with some of this reporting,” Riggleman said, noting that he stopped working with the panel months ago.

“It’s hard for me to criticize specifically, but I do think that Liz probably had outsized influence, or maybe too much influence on the committee,” he added.

The comments come after the Washington Post reported that anonymous committee staff are “angered and disillusioned” by Cheney’s focus on former President Trump in the draft report.

Riggleman suggested that Cheney’s own initiative may have overwhelmed “other opinions or fact-finding that’s going on at the time.”

The Hill has reached out to Cheney’s office for comment.

Trump lashed out at Cheney after the Washington Post story, using it as fodder to undercut Cheney’s work on the panel and criticize her for her reelection loss in this year’s midterms.

A spokesperson for Cheney defended the Trump focus to the Washington Post, saying the decision to home in on the former president was justified by his actions surrounding Jan. 6.

The Jan. 6 committee voted unanimously to subpoena Trump last month, issuing the formal summons with 19 areas of inquiry it hoped to touch on with the former president’s testimony.