Liz Cheney: Trump Announced He Trusted Putin More Than His Own Intelligence Agencies

Moments after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke to the U.S. Congress about the war currently being waged in his country, Liz Cheney spoke to reporters about the address, what the U.S. is planning to do to help Ukraine, the effects of the war on U.S. oil & gas, and more.

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"It was a very important and unprecedented speech this morning to have a foreign leader address the Congress virtually," Congresswoman Cheney stated. "It really hit home in a number of ways."

Cheney stated that it appeared as though President Zelenskyy was running his own tech to address Congress, which makes sense. When you're literally fighting for your life, the last thing on your mind is having a hair and makeup artist and correct lighting. But, Cheney said, even that simple observation served to humanize the man and showed just how much pressure, how much threat, he is under.

Cheney also said that President Zelenskyy showed Congress a video of the atrocities currently taking place in Ukraine.

“Remember Pearl Harbor?" Zelenzkyy asked. "Remember September 11? Our countries experience the same every day right now.”

Cheney said that the video Zelenskyy showed started with footage from three weeks ago in Ukraine, before the attack from Russia. It was peaceful, it was pleasant. It was like any park in Wyoming, Cheney said.

"Then he contrasted the images of those sort of everyday life moments from a few weeks ago with unbelievable death and tragedy and attack that has confronted cities across Ukraine," Cheney said. "He asked for our support and he asked for the United States to do more than we've been doing. I think there are many things that we can do."

Cheney said that a response from the U.S. could be much faster than it has so far been, and that it could be more "complete." She stated that she'd like to see the U.S. "impose sanctions against the top 100 oligarchs and their families."

Cheney also stated that while it's a good thing the Biden Administration stopped the import of Russian oil, she believes that President Biden needs to "unleash America's own domestic energy production."

"Right now, we've got a situation where the administration is continuing to engage in negotiations with Iran, negotiations that are being led by the Russians, to try to reenter the Iranian nuclear deal," Cheney stated. "That is really inexcusable to be contemplating providing Iran with a pathway to nuclear weapons, providing Iran with sanctions relief, providing the Russians with the potential economic benefit  of that kind of relief, and doing so at a time when Russia has made itself a pariah state."

Cheney said that offering aide to Ukraine is not a partisan issue; that both sides want to aide Ukraine in their battle against Russia.

Congresswoman Cheney then took questions, and K2 Radio News reporter Nick Perkins asked the congresswoman to speak about criticism that she, along with Senators Barrasso and Lummis faced regarding the idea that they are using the attack in Ukraine as a means to further their own alleged agenda to pressure President Biden to lift his ban on the leasing of oil & gas on federal land.

"I think Senators Barrasso and Lummis and I have been very consistent for as long as all of us have been in our elective office," Cheney responded. "Our position has not changed. We beliebe that America's fossil fuels are national treasures. We believe that the country has proven that we can be energy independent. It's an economic security issue and a national security issue. The Biden Administration policies to shut down the Keystone Pipeline, to ban new leases for oil and gas development on public land; those are bad policies. They're misguided and they're certainly bad for Wyoming and they're bad for the country."

Cheney stated that what we're seeing today shows how important American independence when it comes to energy really is.

"What Russia has attempted to do across Europe is use gas in particular as a tool of blackmail," she said. "And we ought to be doing everything we can to develop additional LNG export terminals and to recognize that American energy, our fossil fuels, are the cleanest in the world."

Cheney then spoke about whether she regretted not voting to impeach former president Donald Trump the first time, back in 2019, given the current circumstances involving Vladimir Putin.

"No," she stated. "If you look at that impeachment in 2019, my view is that it's a sacred duty and responsibility and obligation that we have as members of the hose, when we are dealing with the impeachment of a president. I wish we had seen more effective efforts to get additional testimony. My view is that when you're gonna take a step as serious as impeachment, it cannot be based on hearsay. It can't be based on anything less than the kind of clear cut case that we had on January 6, for example."

Cheney said that the house learned a lot from the first impeachment of Trump, and that she has consistently made her views of the former reality tv star-turned-president clear.

"I spoke out very clearly, publicly, when he stood next to Putin in Helsinki and announced that he trusted Putin more than his own intelligence agencies. So my position on the policy and my position on the former president's relation with Putin was clear at the time. And I do think we learned lessons from that first impeachment, as we go forward now with the January 6 committee work and investigation."