Rep. Liz Cheney’s campaign (R-Wyo.) spent thousands of dollars on private security this year following death threats in the wake of her decision to back the impeachment of former President Trump and her subsequent removal from House leadership, according to a new report.
Cheney’s campaign spent $58,000 on security from January to March, The New York Times reported Monday, citing Federal Election Commission records.
She was also temporarily assigned special protection by Capitol Police while in Washington, D.C., a move the Times noted is unusual for a member of Congress not in a leadership position.
The few public appearances Cheney has made in in her home state of Wyoming, where she has spent much of the recent congressional recess, have reportedly not been widely publicized beforehand for security reasons.
“We don’t comment on security,” a Cheney spokesperson told The Hill on Monday.
Cheney was ousted from her position as House Republican Conference chairwoman earlier this year after voting to impeach Trump and blaming him for the Jan. 6 rioting by his supporters at the Capitol.
“Every one of us who has sworn the oath must act to prevent the unraveling of our democracy. This is not about policy. This is not about partisanship. This is about our duty as Americans,” Cheney said during a floor speech a day before she was removed from Republican leadership. “Remaining silent and ignoring the lie emboldens the liar. I will not participate in that. I will not sit back and watch in silence while others lead our party down a path that abandons the rule of law, and joins the former president’s crusade to undermine our democracy.”
Trump, during a speech before the Jan. 6 rioting began, said Americans need to remove people like “the Liz Cheneys of the world.”
The Times in a profile of Cheney on Monday reported that just before the rioting began on Jan. 6, Cheney’s father Dick Cheney, the former Republican vice president, called her and asked if she was truly ready to deliver a fiery rebuke of her party’s president. He also told her he feared for her safety, according to the newspaper.
“Absolutely,” Liz Cheney reportedly told her father. “Nothing could be more important.”
Trump celebrated Cheney’s ouster from Republican leadership when it happened in May.
“Liz Cheney is a bitter, horrible human being. I watched her yesterday and realized how bad she is for the Republican Party,” Trump said.
Updated at 8:49 a.m.