Liz Cheney says Strzok-Page texts 'whole lot like a coup ... could well be treason'
As A.G. Barr and U.S. attorneys Durham and Huber investigate possible crimes committed by FBI and DOJ officials related to the 2016 election, Rep. Liz Cheney has joined President Trump in mentioning the T-word: treason. She did so on ABC Television's This Week program, speaking to a very unhappy-looking Martha Raddatz, who appeared to cry on air reporting Donald Trump's apparent victory Election Night 2016 (Raddatz disputes this).
ABC News found it newsworthy enough to tweet out video of those remarks, part of a longer interview (complete video here):
Rep. Liz Cheney: "We had people that are at the highest levels of our law enforcement ... saying that they were going to stop a duly elected president of the United States."
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) May 26, 2019
"That sounds an awful lot like a coup and it could well be treason," she adds https://t.co/tzEmm40vCp pic.twitter.com/RhAVMWRfBU
Transcript via Breitbart:
What is crucially important to remember here is that you had Stzrok and Page who were in charge of launching this investigation and they were saying things like we must stop this president. We need an insurance policy against this president. That in my view when you have people that are in the highest echelons of the law enforcement of this nation saying things like that, that sounds an awful lot like a coup, and it could well be treason. And I think that we need to know more. What was Jim Comey's role in all this? These people reported to him. Andy McCabe reported to him. What was Comey's role in that, and that is what the attorney general is going to be focused on.
Think about the fact that we had people that are at the highest levels of our law enforcement in this nation saying that they were going to stop a dually elected president of the United States, saying they need an insurance policy against him. That is something that simply cannot happen. We have to have confidence in our law enforcement, and the attorney general has got to get to the bottom of what happened, how it was that those people were allowed to misuse and abuse their power that way.
Of course, treason can carry the death penalty, so getting a sound night's sleep last night may have been difficult for the former lovebirds, now on the outs. I have long wondered if the breakup may have led to mutual finger-pointing, and possibly grand jury testimony — which would remain secret until indictments are ready. Lisa Page's makeover, visible after closed door testimony, appears to me to indicate someone working on creating a better public image. There have been intimations from others that she has sought a plea deal as a cooperating witness, but I have not seen any real evidence of that.
YouTube screen grab.
Frankly, I don't see treason, which requires levying war against the United States or giving aid and comfort to its enemies, as the applicable charge. Sedition, the act of inciting revolt or violence against a lawful authority with the goal of destroying or overthrowing it, is probably more applicable and easier to obtain a conviction on. Sedition carries a prison sentence of up to 20 years.