Biden to award Trump critic Liz Cheney with service medal

WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden on Thursday will award Liz Cheney, a former Republican congresswoman and fierce critic of Donald Trump, with a citizens service medal, after the incoming president warned that she “could be in a lot of trouble” with the law once he takes office.

The ex-House representative from Wyoming, along with 19 other prominent figures, will be awarded the Presidential Citizens Medal for “exemplary deeds of service for their country or their fellow citizens,” the White House said in a statement.

Other recipients of the medal -- the second highest civilian award granted by the US government -- will include former US senator Chris Dodd, ex-US House representative Carolyn McCarthy and current lawmaker Bennie Thompson, who chaired the House committee that investigated Trump’s role in the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot. Cheney, who is the daughter of former vice-president Dick Cheney, served as the vice-chair of the committee.

Describing Liz Cheney, the White House said Thursday that she “has raised her voice -- and reached across the aisle -- to defend our Nation and the ideals we stand for: Freedom. Dignity. And decency.”

“Her integrity and intrepidness remind us all what is possible if we work together,” it added.

Cheney, 58, has become a prominent anti-Trump voice within the Republican party in recent years, but she lost her congressional seat in 2022 to a pro-Trump candidate.

She also campaigned alongside Vice-President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential candidate defeated by Trump in November.

Trump is set to return to the White House on January 20 and has vowed to get revenge on political adversaries.

The Republican said in a social media post last month that “Liz Cheney could be in a lot of trouble based on the evidence obtained by the subcommittee, which states that numerous federal laws were likely broken by Liz Cheney, and these violations should be investigated by the FBI”.

A Republican-led congressional panel in December accused Cheney of witness tampering when she helped lead the probe into the attack on the Capitol by Trump supporters.