Liz Cheney won't say whether Jan. 6 committee will refer Donald Trump for criminal charges

Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) said Sunday the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 riot has not decided whether to make a criminal referral against former President Donald Trump to the Justice Department after a New York Times report earlier that day said the panel had evidence but was unsure whether to do so.

On CNN's "State of the Union," Jake Tapper asked Cheney about the Times' report and to confirm whether the committee had enough evidence to make a criminal referral of the former president.

"We have not made a decision about referrals on the committee," she responded.

"It's absolutely clear that what President Trump was doing, what a number of people around him were doing, that they knew it was unlawful. They did it anyway," she alleged.

"I think what we have seen is a massive and well-organized and well- planned effort that used multiple tools to try to overturn an election," she added.

Tapper pressed further, "Just to be clear, you have seen this evidence, and you believe President Trump committed these two crimes?"

"What I have just quoted to you is a public document," Cheney replied, side-stepping the question again.

"The objective was absolutely to try to stop the count of electoral votes, to try to interfere with that official proceeding," she said. "It's absolutely clear that they knew what they were doing was wrong, they knew that it was unlawful, and they did it anyway."

She also said there was "not really a dispute on the committee" about whether to make a criminal referral for the former president.

"And I'm confident that we will – we will work to come to agreement on all of the issues that we're facing," she stressed.